Merger Pairs Competitors Connect Managed Services, G3 Comms

Connect Managed Services and G3 Comms, a pair of unified communications competitors, have merged, creating one of the United Kingdom’s largest UC managed service providers.

The merger is backed by Apiary Capital, which acquired a majority stake in G3 in March. Financial details of the merger weren’t disclosed, but the combined companies will generate more than $69 million in annual revenue.

Connect said partners will benefit from the scale and larger team created by the combination of the two businesses, as well as an extended portfolio of products and services. The company’s partners include Cisco, Genesys, Avaya, Microsoft, AWS, AudioCodes and others.

“Our objective is to create a highly scalable and focused business that can support the needs of a far greater and more diverse customer base, located within both the U.K. and abroad,” said Alex Tupman, the combined company’s CEO. “The merger of G3 and Connect brings together two businesses with highly complementary capabilities which will enable our combined clients to derive significant benefits from the newly acquired skills provided by the enlarged team, together with the ability to offer an extended portfolio of specialist and proven products and services.”

Connect supports global enterprise customers such as Johnson & Johnson, BP and Diageo in the deployment and management of their customer experience (CX) and UC environments.

G3 is an established business communications and network integrator, supporting multisite U.K. businesses, often with international operations. G3’s global reach is supported by its international network providing voice and data services globally.

G3 partners with 25 communications suppliers, including Microsoft, Genesys and Avaya.

“The combination of the two businesses will bring even greater benefit to our existing customers while our emerging scale will allow us to reach new prospects both here in the U.K. and around the world,” said James Arnold-Roberts, G3’s CEO. “When we looked at Connect’s capabilities alongside our own – including our dedicated global network infrastructure – it was clear that this was the perfect fit.”

Apiary Capital is a U.K. private equity firm investing in the business and technology services sectors. The firm seeks to back platform companies in attractive market segments and supports management teams to accelerate growth through strategic acquisitions and investment.