Kennet Partners Ltd, a leading international growth equity investor focused on the technology sector, today announces the sale of its portfolio company Aspective Limited, a leading application service provider, to Vodafone UK. Vodafone UK has signed a conditional contract to acquire Aspective and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the calendar year.
Aspective was launched in 1999 with funding from Kennet to create the first European provider of hosted front-office, e-commerce and mobile applications. With continuing support from Kennet and other investors, Aspective made numerous acquisitions and grew into a leading provider of managed services delivering CRM, analytics and mobile field sales applications to blue-chip customers across the UK.
Aspective's unique expertise in mobilizing enterprise applications makes it a strong fit for Vodafone's recently announced strategy to offer seamless mobility solutions to its customers.
Kennet Managing Director David Carratt was instrumental in the foundation of Aspective in 1999. He was succeeded on Aspective’s Board of Directors in early 2005 by Kennet director Maximilian Bleyleben, who commented, "Aspective has been leading the market since its foundation, initially as one of the first European Application Service Providers for front-office solutions, and later in implementing some of the largest mobile field applications in the market. We are delighted that Aspective has found a good match for its ambitions within Vodafone."
Aspective CEO, Javaid Aziz, said "This is a great result for Aspective and its employees. The acquisition by Vodafone UK is a testament to the intrinsic quality of the business we have built over the years with the support of our investors."
Note: Vodafone UK means Vodafone UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc.
Kennet Partners is a leading international private equity firm which invests in growth companies providing information technology products and business services that leverage information technology. Kennet provides expansion capital to businesses that want to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value in partnership with an experienced investor. Kennet acts as an advisor to Kennet I LP, a Jersey limited partnership and to Kennet II LP, a Guernsey limited partnership. Kennet Partners is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Vodafone UK has 16.2 million customers and is part of the world’s leading international mobile telecommunications Group, offering a wide range of voice and data communications. The company is committed to providing mobile solutions that allow both consumer and business customers to make the most of now. In addition, Vodafone connects customers across the globe with roaming agreements worldwide. It provides 3G roaming in 29 countries and offers great roaming value with Vodafone Passport. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.co.uk
Aspective is a specialist in the mobilisation of enterprise applications such as CRM and Field Sales Automation – an area in which Vodafone UK is seeing increasing demand from its enterprise customers. Through its acquisition of Aspective Vodafone UK will be able to provide a broader set of skills and capabilities to support customers in the areas of business process consulting, solution design, implementation and managed services.