16 September 2010 - Webfusion, one of the UK’s leading web hosting providers, has today announced that it is to be acquired by leading European private equity investor Montagu Private Equity. The acquisition will  help Webfusion to expand internationally and supports its company vision of bringing the world’s ideas online.

The acquisition of Webfusion and its sister company Host Europe GmbH (Germany’s leading hosting provider) combine to form Host Europe Group, Europe’s largest Virtual Private Server (VPS) provider.

Montagu is acquiring the group from Oakley Capital Investments. Speaking of the acquisition, Peter Dubens, Director of Oakley Capital Investments says, “Host Europe has performed consistently well since Oakley acquired the business in 2008.  On completion this will represent a significant disposal for the fund and achieves a good return for investors over a difficult economic period.”

Montagu invests in established, successful companies, and works with them to achieve their strategic goals through the provision of growth capital and other resources. Montagu holds stakes in 12 companies including Maplin and Biffa.  Host Europe Group will become the first hosting company in its portfolio.

Despite the recession, and at a time when many companies have made significant cut backs, Webfusion was ranked 28th in 2010’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 and substantially grown its business model. The hosting provider has significantly expanded its product portfolio, particularly to its leading domain brand 123-reg, which has further strengthened its loyal customer base. Webfusion’s customers will not be affected by the changes and will continue to benefit from the products and services available.

Thomas Vollrath, CEO of Webfusion, says, “The acquisition by Montagu is a vote of confidence in the Webfusion business and will bring substantial benefits to our  continuing development as we work towards realising our group vision - to bring the world’s ideas online. With an unrivalled passion for customer service and engagement, our growth plans have been significant in recent years: we have acquired a UK company, broken into the American web hosting market and more recently entered the Spanish market. The expertise and geographical reach of Montagu is sure to be of great benefit as we continue to further expand internationally, developing our managed hosting, virtualisation and value added services, whilst improving service levels for our existing customer base.”

Wiet Stokhuyzen, director at Montagu Private Equity, comments, “Host Europe Group is a well-managed, high quality business with significant development potential – a great example of the type of business Montagu traditionally invests in and an excellent addition to the Montagu portfolio.  We look forward to working with Host Europe Group’s talented management team and supporting the business in realising its potential going forward.”