International private equity firm Cinven has acquired One.com, a European supplier of web hosting services. Established in 2002 in Denmark, One.com provides domain names and web hosting services to small- to medium-sized enterprises and small-office home-offices (SOHOs).
One.com has 270 employees and claims more than 1m customers, with a focus on Northern Europe. Cinven said it identified One.com as a “compelling investment opportunity” based on its direct experience in HEG (formerly Host Europe Group), a leading European provider of hosting and domain services acquired by Cinven in August 2013.
Cinven invested in HEG as a platform investment from which to “consolidate” the fragmented European hosting market. Cinven ultimately sold HEG to US-listed GoDaddy in January 2017.
It said: “One.com has a well-recognised brand, a significant customer base which has been developed organically, and its business model is attractive and resilient due to its diversified customer base and subscription model, resulting in highly recurring revenues, earnings visibility and strong cash flow generation.”
It added: “There are opportunities to accelerate the growth of the business organically and through acquisition.”
Jacob Jensen, founder and CEO of One.com, said: "We have more than 15 years' experience in web hosting services and are today one of the leading companies in Europe in the sector. Our achievements to date are matched by our growth ambitions for the future and, in Cinven, we have a partner whose expertise in the sector and financial resources can support our compelling growth strategy.”
Thomas Railhac, a partner at Cinven, said: “We are very excited to invest in One.com alongside Jacob. It is a high quality business with an attractive brand and scalable technology platform, operating in a market with structural growth drivers.”
The value of the acquisition has not not been disclosed by either party.
