Hutton Collins is pleased to announce that it has completed a £85 million preferred equity investment in 2e2, a Duke Street portfolio company and a leading UK and Netherlands IT services provider, focused on upper mid- market customers.  

Formed in 2002 by the current CEO and COO, Terry Burt and Mark McVeigh, 2e2 creates innovative IT solutions that transform business processes, reduce infrastructure costs and enhance performance.  The company is very well positioned in high growth sectors of the IT services market, and is able to deliver services in the cloud (in their best-in-class data centres), on client premises, or as a hybrid.   

2e2’s business is characterised by long-term customer relationships and a significant proportion of contracted revenues.  It is strongly cash generative and operates in a sector with long-term structural growth trends.

This is the second investment Hutton Collins has made in the IT services space, having invested in 2006 in Everis, a market leading Spanish IT consulting services business.

Hutton Collins’ capital injection is being used to fund the acquisition of Morse plc, a UK IT services peer.  The combination of both Morse and 2e2 will create a market leading IT services provider, with over £400 million of annual sales, and with a breadth of services unmatched in the mid market and upper mid market space. 

Terry Burt, CEO of 2e2 commented:

“We are delighted to welcome Hutton Collins as an investor and valued Board member of 2e2. The Morse transaction is transformational and we are confident the Company will have further opportunities to benefit and grow from this new strategic partnership."

Matthew Collins, Co-founder of Hutton Collins commented:

"As part of the investment strategy of our latest fund we are focused on investment situations where we can provide acquisition capital to support market leading businesses in their next stage of growth.  2e2, a business we have followed for some time, very much fits this bill.  It is an excellent business, operating in a sector we know well, with a very strong management team who have a proven ability to make value enhancing acquisitions.  We are very pleased to be able to support 2e2 in its acquisition of Morse plc and in its next stage of growth.”

Legal assistance in the operation was provided by Dickson Minto on behalf of Hutton Collins, and DLA Piper on behalf of 2e2. IDC Research and IS Research performed the commercial due diligence, while E&Y led the financial and tax due diligence.