Ziggo to acquire Esprit Telecom expanding its business services to the SME market Ziggo is further expanding its services for the business market through the acquisition of Esprit Telecom, a leading provider of voice and data services for the SME market in the Netherlands. The company has an active sales channel of dealers across the country. The acquisition includes Zoranet, an ICT service provider that focuses on the retail sector...

Ziggo to acquire Esprit Telecom expanding its business services to the SME market

 

Ziggo is further expanding its services for the business market through the acquisition of Esprit Telecom, a leading provider of voice and data services for the SME market in the Netherlands. The company has an active sales channel of dealers across the country. The acquisition includes Zoranet, an ICT service provider that focuses on the retail sector.

Esprit Telecom is part of the Detron ICT & Telecom Group and will continue to operate independently, under its own name, for the foreseeable future. The acquisition is subject to approval by the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa). In 2012, Esprit Telecom generated revenues of EUR37 million. The acquisition is valued at EUR18 million.

 

Hendrik de Groot, Ziggo's Business-to-Business Managing Director, said: "Our focus is on the small business market, where we provide all-in-one business solutions based on broadband Internet, telephony, TV and increasingly cloud services. Over the past two years we have successfully grown our small business customer base by more than 30,000 customers. We experience increasing demand from the SME market for our products and services. The acquisition of Esprit Telecom, which has a loyal customer base and operates nationwide, will enable us to accelerate our services provision to the SME market. Together with Esprit Telecom, we will invest in new cloud based business services, including a new portfolio telephony services, designed for both small businesses and the SME market. We also see interesting synergy opportunities, including upgrade to our next generation broadband network, enabling SMEs to be securely connected to the cloud."

 

About Ziggo Ziggo is a Dutch provider of entertainment, information and communication through television, Internet and telephony services. The company serves around 2.9 million households, with almost 1.8 million Internet customers, more than 2.2 million customers for digital television and 1.5 million telephony subscribers. Business-to-business customers use services such as data communication, telephony, television and Internet. The company owns a next-generation network capable of providing the bandwidth required for all future services currently foreseen. More information on Ziggo can be found on: www.ziggo.com
About Esprit Telecom Esprit Telecom was founded in 1993, and provides voice and data services to the SME market in the Netherlands. The company has 5,000 clients and an extensive sales channel of 150 resellers and account managers. It is located in Almere, and has 75 employees. Zoranet became a part of Esprit Telecom in 2011. It is a business IT service provider that focuses on the retail sector, with sales driven through resellers and account managers. Located in Zwolle, the company has 23 employees.
Not for publication   For more information please contact:   Media Erik van Doeselaar Sr. Media Relations Officer +31 (0)88 717 4134 | [email protected]   Esprit Telecom: Karl Heinz van der Made Director +31 (0)6 13001500 | [email protected]	Analysts and Investors Wouter van de Putte Director Corporate Finance & Investor Relations +31 (0)88 717 1799 | [email protected]   Christian Berghout Manager Corporate Finance & Investor Relations +31 (0)88 717 1051| [email protected]

 

 

Copyright Thomson Reuters

Regulatory News
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: %s via Thomson Reuters ONE


[HUG#1685451]