CityFibre is the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform and acquired Entanet in 2017 to provide the wholesale operations expertise and partner base needed to accelerate its growth in the business market and drive penetration across its expanding network.
Almost a decade later, the transaction enables CityFibre to simplify its model and focus exclusively on scaling services over its full fibre infrastructure.
Entanet has a 30-year heritage as a wholesale aggregator and an established presence within the UK communications channel. The transaction will see the business return to the market as an independent channel provider, with plans to invest in its proposition, automation and wider portfolio.
Knight Corporate Finance advised CityFibre throughout the transaction, working closely with the management team to position Entanet for sale and highlight its potential as a platform within the UK communications channel.
The transaction was led by Paul Billingham, Co-Founder of Knight CF, supported by Luke Ettenfield-Nann, Associate Director, and Greg Rawsthorne, Senior Manager.
Drawing on its sector knowledge and longstanding relationships with channel providers, the team helped identify and secure a buyer capable of reinvigorating the Entanet brand and proposition while also becoming a strategic wholesale customer of CityFibre.
With his experience of building and scaling Virtual1, Tom O’Hagan aims to expand Entanet’s proposition, invest in its Telford base and grow its partner relationships.
George Wareing, Chief Commercial Officer at CityFibre, commented:
“CityFibre’s acquisition of Entanet almost a decade ago played an important role in accelerating our business market growth. This sale is the natural next step, allowing us to simplify our model and focus exclusively on providing services over our own infrastructure.
“We’ll be able to innovate faster, further improve performance and support all our customers more effectively. We welcome Entanet as a new strategic customer of CityFibre and look forward to growing together as demand for full fibre continues to accelerate.”
Will Creedy, Corporate Development Director at CityFibre, said:
“Knight Corporate Finance’s extensive sector relationships ensured we could reach a range of channel-focused providers in our process and assess not just the most appropriate buyer, but also the party we could enjoy a long-term strategic relationship with.
“The team at Knight Corporate Finance supported us throughout the process and we are delighted with the outcome and the opportunity to grow our new partnership with Tom and his team.”
Paul Billingham, Co-Founder of Knight Corporate Finance, added:
“Entanet has had a relatively low profile in recent years, but it is a name synonymous with the channel. We are delighted to see it relaunch as an independent channel provider with Tom and his team.
“There has been a lot of consolidation in the channel in recent years, so it’s good to see a new incumbent with the ambition to invest and support its loyal partner base.”
