Telecoms and technology giant Daisy Group has announced the acquisition of a rival reported to be worth more than £200m.
Daisy Group, which is headquartered in Lancashire, has signed a deal to acquire XLN, with completion expected in early March.
XLN provides over 100,000 small businesses with services including business broadband, phones and card payments.
This division of Daisy now has in excess of 200,000 customers with combined revenues of over £200m.
Daisy Group chairman Matthew Riley said: "With so much investment across the UK to improve the fibre infrastructure, Daisy is now well-positioned to help unlock the enhanced speed, reliability and security that customers want in their offices and shops up and down the country.
"There is also a vast opportunity in the creation of jobs as we need more staff to help deliver that service."
Dave McGinn, CEO of Daisy Communications, added: "I’ve always admired XLN and its philosophy of championing small businesses; it’s a great organisation and shares the same passion for customer service as demonstrated by their Trustpilot score.
"Daisy’s strategy has always been to acquire successful businesses and we’re delighted with the recent acquisition of XLN. We’re excited to work closely with the XLN team, to capitalise on our shared portfolio and to bring the best propositions and pricing to all of our customers.
"Ultimately, we want to keep enabling customers, collaboratively, to win in their marketplace."
According to a Sky News report, the deal is worth £210m and could create 200 jobs.
Christian Nellemann, founder and executive chairman of XLN, said: "We have been highly successful in our support of small businesses since our launch in 2002.
"We have continually innovated in both products and services which has enabled the company to continue to grow. Therefore, we felt the time was right to hand the reins over to Daisy, who have a great track record of investing and enhancing the businesses they acquire; the business and our customers are in safe hands."
Neil Conaghan, CEO of XLN, added: "Christian and I have known Matthew Riley and members of the Daisy management team for many years.
"Hence, even though both of us are now leaving the business, we have 100% confidence that the XLN business will continue to thrive and prosper under Daisy ownership and guidance."
