Version 1 announces second UK acquisition

Irish owned IT Services Company, Version 1, has announced its second UK acquisition in three months, acquiring Edinburgh headquartered IT consultancy Rocela Group for an undisclosed sum. In November 2013, Version 1 acquired the UK business operations of Northern European IT Services Company Tieto Corporation in what was billed as the first stage of a three year acquisition programme.

Version 1 is one of the fastest growing IT services companies in Western Europe and this latest deal is a significant step in realising the company’s ambitious growth plans.Version 1’s total employee numbers now stand at 500 (100 UK employees) with forecasted FY2014 revenues of (£52M) €62M.
Rocela Group was established in 2001 by Chief Executive Officer Martin Mutch and Commercial Director Kenneth Wilson. With revenues of £14M (€17M) FY12 and employing 75 people in Edinburgh and Knutsford (outside Manchester), Rocela provides enterprise application consultancy services to top global banks, many FTSE100 companies and pan-European utility organisations, as well as public sector and local government establishments in the UK.

Commenting on the announcement, Justin Keatinge, Chief Executive Officer of Version 1 said, “Version 1 and Rocela Group represents a great fit with high synergies in terms of growth and ambition, commitment to corporate values, staff engagement and customer satisfaction. We expect this deal to benefit all our customers bringing consolidated expertise in Oracle & Microsoft Enterprise Application Consultancy and Licence Management and establishing us as the go-to IT service provider for Enterprise-scale organisations in Western Europe.”

“This deal will accelerate Rocela Group’s growth ambitions and will deliver greater breadth and depth of services to our customer base and a host of career development opportunities to our employees working in new geographies, across new industry sectors and with new customers," says Rocela co-founder and Commercial Director Kenneth Wilson. "We are very excited to be joining with Version 1 and are confident of a successful integration of the two companies and a thriving future for all parties involved.”

Keatinge will head the combined entity, with Rocela Group Chief Executive Officer Martin Mutch stepping down from his position but remaining on in a consultancy capacity to help oversee the integration of the two companies. Rocela Group Commercial Director Kenneth Wilson has been appointed to the Version 1 Management Team. Rocela Group will continue to trade as Rocela Limited.