In a deal led by Reading based M&A Advisors EvolutionCBS, IDS Group, a niche solution provider of design & deployment offerings for data centres, has been acquired by Sterlite Technologies Limited, a global data network solutions company.

Impact Data Solutions Ltd (IDS) specialises in the design and installation of network infrastructure solutions to the data and colocation sectors. The company offers a cohesive suite of services, from design and project management through to installation. With offices in the UK and the Netherlands, it has continued to invest in highly skilled people and in its systems to provide a strong foundation for further growth.

Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) provides end-to-end data network solutions and has a strong global presence with next-generation optical preform, fibre and cable manufacturing facilities in India, Italy, China and Brazil and two software-development centres.

The acquisition of IDS Group further solidifies STL’s position within the data centre market and aligns with their ambitious growth and expansion plans throughout the European region.

EvolutionCBS Client Director, Steve Barry, led the deal and commented: “Working with Robbie, Tracy and Ben has been a genuinely positive experience. From the outset, the collective shareholders had a clear and specific vision regarding what they wanted to deliver for the team they’d built at IDS/Vulcan and have worked tirelessly with us to achieve that goal. Moving forward, we believe the combination of IDS’s highly specialised design and delivery capabilities together with STL’s global presence and reach will create massive opportunities for Ben and the team with what is already a highly successful, profitable and increasingly differentiated service proposition. For Robbie and Tracy, the deal gives them an opportunity to step away from the business and focus their seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm into something new and exciting. I’ll be watching with interest to see how that next chapter will start to unfold. We wish them all well with their future aspirations and plans and I personally consider myself privileged to have helped them on their way.”

Ben Parker, IDS CEO, said: “We are incredibly excited at the prospect of working together with STL to scale our already highly successful business operations and services to support our growing customer base. Joining the STL global platform will enable us to fast track our expansion with the quality, scale and breadth of competencies needed to meet our customers’ complex design and deployment requirements.”

Dr. Anand Agarwal, STL Group CEO, added: “It is our endeavour to be more and more relevant to our customers’ data network creation needs across the globe. The massive growth in data transmission and high bandwidth applications are driving a large need for edge compute and localised data centre, which makes this an extremely attractive space for investment. Ben and the team have established IDS to be a very strong contender in this space, making this acquisition extremely well aligned to our stated strategy of strengthening our solutions to our Cloud Provider customer segment, and taking our Network Services Business global.”

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EvolutionCBS has, collectively, been responsible for over 500 successful transactions with an overall value in excess of £2bn.