Technology and communications business Daisy Group has acquired Essex-headquartered Network Europe Group (NEG) for £23.5m. Initium advised the shareholders of NEG during the transaction.

Founded in 1992 – and now rebranded as Daisy Health – NEG provided network services, telephony hardware, installation and maintenance support to more than 2,000 customers. A total of 1,200 of those were general practitioners, a sector in which NEG demonstrated a very strong UK market share.

“Selling a business is never easy but we have felt in extremely capable hands” – Dean Rayment, NEG

Prior to the transaction, NEG became best known for its ‘Surgery Line’ product, a revolutionary enhanced communications service, designed specifically for GP surgeries and general practices, used by 18% of all practices in the UK. At the time of the acquisition in 2010, 4.5 million patients used the Surgery Line service every month.

NEG was a dynamic, growing business and of significant interest to the marketplace. Under the leadership of its principal directors, Dean Rayment, Scott Russell and Craig Hughs, NEG was a Tech Track 100 company in 2007, 2008 and 2009. At the time of the deal, the business posted £3.4m EBITDA on revenues of £11.2m, with good revenue visibility, and an average remaining contract length of three years.

Dean Rayment, Managing Director of NEG, said: “We are extremely grateful to the team at Initium for their support throughout this entire process. Selling a business is never easy but in Simon Glover and the rest of the Initium team, we have felt in extremely capable hands and believe that with the support of Daisy Group, NEG will continue to lead the way in its field.”

Reflecting on the transaction, Scott Russell added: “I’d used one of the major accountancy firms for previous business sales, but this time, I was recommended to you. I’d never dealt with a boutique advisor like you before, and I found you guys brilliant because you sat down with us and asked us questions that the other companies weren’t asking. There was a team there, and it sounds really clichéd, but it was like a family. It felt a lot better doing business with you than the big accountancy firm.”

“With the big firm, I had felt like an irritant to them. You’d get a junior doing some of the stuff. They didn’t really research the marketplace. They were lazy. But you did a superb job. I think that what makes Initium special is the people behind the business.”