The M&A consultants that advised Node4 and private equity

IT professional services firm Node4 has switched private equity hands, seeing its ownership transition from LDC and Bowmark Capital to Providence Equity Partners. The deal was advised on by a raft of M&A consultants. 

LDC first invested in Node4 in 2013, and then re-invested for a minority shareholding alongside Bowmark Capital in 2016. Under the wings of the two investors, Node4 has doubled its sales and profits, achieving strong organic growth through significant new customer wins and the provision of a broader range of information and communications solutions to its existing clients. 

Founded in 2004 in Derby, Node4 specialises in cloud, connectivity, collaboration and security & continuity solutions, supporting its clients with the delivery of digital solutions and managed services. Node4 focuses on the housing, healthcare, transport, automotive, financial services, and public sector industries.

Leveraging the platform of Providence Equity Partners, the Founder and CEO of Node4 Andrew Gilbert said that the firm will now be able to embark on the “next stage of its growth journey. We will continue down our well-proven path of organic growth, building on Node4’s best-in-class systems and supplementing this with exciting strategic acquisitions.” 

Just last month, Node4 itself acquired Starcom Technologies, the MSP division of K3 Business Technologies Group – marking the largest deal by headcount in its history. Earlier, the IT consulting firm closed two other deals. 

Andrew Tisdale, Senior Managing Director at Providence on why the private equity group invested in Node4: “Node4 has an outstanding management team and its core focus on exceptional service has continued to deliver impressive organic growth. Recent acquisitions and an ambitious growth plan add to Node4’s appeal as an investment opportunity.” 

The deal was advised by the usual tridente of M&A bankers, consultants and lawyers. Acquirer Providence was advised by DC Advisory (M&A Advisory), Raymond James (investment banking), CMA Strategy Consulting (commercial due diligence), FTI Consulting (financial advisory), KPMG (tax and structuring) and Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal).

Node4 and its shareholders LDC and Bowmark Capital were advised by Arma Partners (M&A Advisory), PwC (vendor tax and financial), Deloitte (tax due diligence and structuring), Liberty Partners (management) and Pinsent Mason (Legal).