Claranet acquires Echiron, a high-end managed hosting and applications provider in Portugal

Claranet, one of Europe’s leading independent managed services providers, acquires Portuguese managed hosting and applications provider Echiron, as part of its continued expansion into Europe, creating the largest cloud services provider to the mid-market in the region.

The acquisition of Echiron, which has annual revenues in the region of €5 million a year, cements Claranet’s position in Portugal as the leading provider of managed hosting and applications services in the region. It means that customers will benefit from the expertise of both companies and from an expanded services portfolio.

Founded in 2000 and based in Lisbon, Echiron is recognised for its expertise in cloud, database and Microsoft & Oracle application management services. With offerings that complement and broaden Claranet’s existing service portfolio, Echiron is a natural partner for Claranet. Echiron has 90 customers across all industry sectors, including BMW Portugal, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (one of the largest private foundations in Europe) and SPMS (Portugal’s centralised health system administration body).

A success story in the European technology market, Claranet has grown steadily since it was founded in 1996. Echiron is the latest in a wave of acquisitions made by the company in the last 18 months across Europe – with Star in the UK (November 2012) and Typhon in France (December 2012) – as the business undergoes a period of rapid growth.

António Miguel Ferreira, MD at Claranet Portugal, says: “The acquisition is part of Claranet’s overall growth strategy and allows us to expand our teams and our service offerings. It confirms our ambition to become the leading independent provider of managed services in Europe, and now positions Claranet as the leading provider for managed hosting and managed applications in Portugal.”

“Becoming part of the Claranet Group will create new opportunities for our customers, our partners and our employees,” said João Ribeiro da Costa, MD and founder of Echiron. “They will all benefit from Claranet’s pan-European operations, its strong financial footing, and an expanded services portfolio,” he added.

As a result of this acquisition, the Claranet Group will have annual revenues in excess of €155 million (£130m), circa 750 employees, over 4,500 customers and operations in six European countries (France, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal).