‘They are a perfect match’: Proact CEO affirms UK commitment with BlakYaks buyout
The new acquisition brings the company’s UK headcount to 260
Proact has acquired UK-based cloud native consulting, engineering, and managed services business BlakYaks to boost its presence in the market.
The acquisition will aim to enhance Proact's portfolio in hybrid cloud services, as well as expand its Microsoft Azure and cloud native technologies capabilities.
CRN sat down with Magnus Lönn, the freshly appointed CEO and director of Proact, to better understand what this buyout represents for the VAR.
“They are a perfect match to the problems that all of our customers are looking into,” says Lönn.
“By combining their skills and knowledge together with what we have been doing for the last 30 years, we can offer our customers even more going forward, which makes it a super good fit for us.”
He explains that negotiations have been ongoing for almost a year, when Stockholm-HQ Proact was still led by Jonas Hasselberg.
“That will be a super addition to the Proact family, especially in the UK, because it is a country with a lot of growth potential.”
In Q3 FY24, Proact’s UK income increased 8.9 per cent year-on-year to SEK 170.4m (£13.05m).
BlakYak's revenue for the last 12 months was £5.6m, with an EBITA of £1.5m.
The London-based company currently employs 50 people, who will all join the organisation, bringing its UK headcount to 260.
The freshly acquired firm will also “keep its name for a long time, since it’s well known in the market and so forth.”
BlakYak’s leadership, such as CEO Dirk Anderson, will remain in the exec team, as Lönn doesn’t intend “to make any sort of changes as such.”
Proact used the same strategy when it swooped Conoa in Sweden in 2021.
“They still have their name, and the management is still there,” explains Proact’s CEO.
The transaction includes an initial consideration of £16m, on a cash and debt-free basis, and a potential earn-out of up to £11m, subject to the achievement of certain financial targets, payable over the period 2025 to 2027.
Proact’s UK arm ranks number 80 in CRN’s Top VARs list.