NorthEdge invests in Distology

Eliza Punshi
02 March 2021

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Mid-market private equity firm NorthEdge has acquired a majority stake in cybersecurity specialist Distology, alongside its management.

The GP is investing from its £120m SME Fund, which held a final close in July 2018, and typically deploys £2-10m in companies in the North of England and Midlands regions. This is the fifth investment from the fund, alongside iPortalis, Phoebus, CMAP and Altia-ABM.

The GP told Unquote that it had been tracking the business since early 2020, and that it held initial discussions with the shareholders regarding a potential transaction. In summer 2020, it mandated EY to lead the transaction through a limited process.

The GP said the decision was based on "the relationship built with the NorthEdge team, alongside Distology's confidence in NorthEdge's ability to help them deliver value post deal".

The GP said in a statement that Distology had increased its year-on-year revenues by more than 75% over the past three years, and that its investment will support the business to broaden its services, build on its strong relationships with vendors and partners, and continue to grow its presence in Europe.

Company
Founded in 2014 and based in Manchester, Distology is a B2B distributor of cloud security products to protect businesses from cyber attacks. The company has an additional office in the Netherlands and employs 30 staff. It expects to generate £25m in revenues for the year to 31 March 2021.

People
NorthEdge – Liam May (director).
Distology – Hayley Roberts (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Alantra Corporate Finance (M&A); PwC (financial due diligence); Graph Strategy (commercial due diligence); RSM (financial due diligence); DWF (legal).
Company – EY (M&A); Gateley (legal).