Under the agreement, X-on becomes a subsidiary of £110 million parent group SCG, with access to funding to accelerate expansion from its core primary care base to providing X-on branded cloud communications to wider care networks. The acquisition by SCG will enable X-on to capitalise on soaring demand for its award-winning flagship Surgery Connect cloud telephony product for GP practices and develop innovative products and services incorporating newer technology areas such as artificial intelligence.
X-on was founded more than 20 years ago by directors Paul Bensley and Paul Heeren. Initially it focused on selling IT support services and ringtones but then diversified into phone systems for the healthcare market. The company is headquartered in Woodbridge, Suffolk, and is a £10 million turnover business, employing more than 70 staff. An estimated 11 million patients are now served by 1400 practices in England and Wales using X-on’s Surgery Connect, representing around 17.5 per cent of the GP practice telephony market.
Paul Bradford, Chief Executive of SCG, said:
“X-on has an incredible presence in the primary care cloud telephony market, making it one of the strongest competitors in this space. Our acquisition supercharges X-on towards a new level of growth as the demand for cloud telephony in the primary care and wider healthcare markets continues to escalate. We see X-on as an unstoppable force in the future and its expansion will reach far beyond those markets.”
In purchasing X-on, SCG will extend its existing foothold in the primary care communications market to wider potential care markets.
X-on’s co-founder and Marketing Director Paul Heeren, said:
“Our commitment to evolving our platform with GPs and practice managers, as key stakeholders in the development process, is the key ingredient here.”
Paul Bensley, who will continue as X-on Chief Executive under the acquisition, said:
“This is a very exciting time for our company and our acquisition by SCG is the right decision at the right time to ensure we have the crucial funding to help us realise our true trajectory within the growing digital healthcare market. We’re very much looking forward to collaborating with our new parent to further strengthen our position as a key player in the market whilst maintaining our enviable reputation for exemplary customer service. We see huge opportunity from this agreement.”
PEM Corporate Finance were appointed by the vendors to provide M&A advice. Lake Falconer, partner at PEMCF, said:
“We’ve pleased to have helped Paul Bensley and Paul Heeren with the sale of X-on. We’ve worked with them for several years, giving input to their strategic thinking as they’ve evolved X-on into a healthcare focused cloud telephony specialist. It’s a great example of the benefit of starting this sort of dialogue early and X-on should really benefit from the link up with Southern Communications.”
Mark Whittaker from Greene & Greene solicitors were appointed to provide legal advice to the vendors. Moore Barlow represented SCG.