ECI portfolio company, IT Lab, the technology service and solutions provider business behind McLaren F1 sports cars, has today announced the acquisition of Sol-Tec. Sol-Tec is one of Microsoft’s largest Azure partners in the UK and a globally awarded ‘Azure Influencer Partner of the Year’ Finalist. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Since investment from ECI in 2016, IT Lab has completed four acquisitions, including SMB specialist, Mirus, in 2019 and leading Microsoft Office365 and SharePoint partner, Content and Code, in September 2018. The turnover for the combined IT Lab group is now around £85m, with strong organic growth continuing. Achieving yet another milestone on its way to becoming the most awarded and capable Microsoft partner in the UK, IT Lab is one of the very few partners able to provide services to its clients across all three elements of Microsoft’s Cloud, Office 365 and Modern Workplace; Azure and Dynamics 365.
IT Lab was the natural home for Sol-Tec, with its dedicated focus on Microsoft and the deep expertise already established across Modern Workplace and Dynamics 365. Sol-Tec’s exceptional Azure capability complements and strengthens the ability of IT Lab to help our combined clients truly leverage the power of the Microsoft Cloud. In addition to this being a great capability fit from our client’s perspective, our cultures, ethos and ambitions align perfectly.Nik Topham CEO and founder of Sol-Tec
Since its acquisition of Perspective Risk in May 2017, IT Lab has complemented its managed services offering with a full service cyber security practice spanning penetration testing, governance risk and compliance and established Security Operations Centre. It recently became one of the few cyber security specialists in the UK to have implemented Sentinel, Microsoft’s advanced cloud-native SIEM (security information and event management) tool.
Sol-Tec is a true Azure expert, with market leading expertise in the design, deployment and configuration of secure and compliant Azure environments. We are incredibly excited to add Sol-Tec’s award-winning Azure expertise to our market leading Modern Workplace and Dynamic 365 practices, further solidifying IT Lab as one of the UK’s leading Microsoft focused cloud services and solutions providers. Having the ability to deliver the functionality that Microsoft cloud centric services can provide, particularly at this pivotal and challenging time is key for our clients.Peter Sweetbaum CEO of IT Lab
Commenting on future transactions, Peter Sweetbaum highlighted that
As a group we will continue to look for exceptional businesses to become part of the group. The common theme with the deals we have done since ECI’s investment, including Perspective Risk. Content and Code, Mirus and now Sol-Tec, is that we have consistently acquired exceptional businesses with amazing teams – all of which want to do great things…Peter Sweetbaum
Tom Wrenn, Partner at ECI Partners, commented
This is IT Lab’s fourth acquisition since our investment, and represents an important extension of its capabilities to clients. Sol-Tec’s Azure expertise is in high demand and the market is growing rapidly with Microsoft’s Azure revenues growing by 62%. We’re delighted to support the combined business in this step to solidifying their position as the leading UK Microsoft partner. Tom Wrenn Partner at ECI Partners
