CloudClevr reels in fourth acquisition with Twisted Fish IT

The deal brings the MSP’s headcount to more than 180 as CEO Steve Harris tells CRN CloudClevr will now take a break from its M&A spree

CloudClevr has announced the acquisition of IT services management business Twisted Fish IT.

The Rigby Technology Investments-backed group now has four acquisitions under its belt following the buy of NGC Networks, 4Sight Communications and Bamboo Technology Group.

Ben Woodhouse, managing director of Twisted Fish IT said: "I am delighted to conclude the deal with CloudClevr and I'm pleased to be staying on as managing director, alongside my leadership team, to drive the next level of growth within our business.

"An important consideration to me was that we join an exciting, high-growth business that has the same strong cultural and directional fit as Twisted Fish. In CloudClevr, we found the perfect partnership which will be immensely positive for the current team at Twisted Fish and importantly for our customers too."

The addition of the London-based group grows CloudClevr's headcount to more than 180 people and brings complementary capabilities, particularly Twisted Fish IT's Microsoft partnership and status as Microsoft CSP.

Explaining the rationale behind snapping up Twisted Fish IT, CloudClevr CEO Steve Harris tells CRN acquiring a company that demonstrates technology and thought leadership was important.

"Twisted Fish is a fast growth and innovative business. If you look at their portfolio and the fact they're in direct Microsoft CSP shows you that they've got some good standing in the marketplace. They're very technical with a high proportion of engineering staff out of the total number of staff in the business."

Switch in M&A strategy

Harris recently told CRN CloudClevr's growth plan focused on differentiation and adding capabilities.

Now with four deals since its inception in 2023, Harris reveals the group will be taking a short break from its M&A spree and will be back on the hunt with a different strategy.

"We'll be looking at the later part of the year to recommence M&A.

"Our M&A strategy will be different. The first phase has been focused on capabilities and we're now happy with what the first four deals have given us around converged capability across cloud comms, IT and security.

"Our future M&A will be looking at customer scale, geographic presence and maybe some capabilities."