Ambitious plans to build out cloud services business from Castlebar base in new phase of growth

Paschal Naylor, CEO, Arkphire; Jimmy Dalton, CFO, Arkphire and Oliver Surdival, CEO of CloudStrong pictured at the announcement of Arkphire's acquisition of CloudStrong,  a specialist cloud solution provider that is based in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.  The new combined business is committed to building out a growth cloud services business from its centre of excellence in the West of Ireland.  For commercial reasons, Arkphire is not disclosing financial details related to this latest acquisition.

Over the past four years, Arkphire has grown turnover from €20m to over €90m and the company is on track to become a €100 million business this year, providing a full range of technology solutions from the desktop to the data centre. Founded in 2011 by Oliver Surdival, CloudStrong currently employs 12 people, providing cloud consultancy services and solutions to the small and medium sized enterprise market.  CloudStrong received start-up equity funding from Enterprise Ireland and has been a client in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up unit, which is dedicated to Irish start-ups with the potential to scale in international markets.

Commenting on this latest acquisition by Arkphire, Paschal Naylor, CEO at Arkphire said: “Arkphire and CloudStrong have a very effective working relationship going back many years.  The acquisition formalises this relationship and strengthens Arkphire’s overall cloud services offering, enabling us to bring our complementary skills and capabilities to the market.  I am very confident and looking forward to building out a really effective cloud technology team from our new hub in the West and providing new career opportunities for people wanting to live in the region.”       

Founder and CEO of CloudStrong, Oliver Surdival said: “I’m extremely proud of the CloudStrong team and the journey we have undertaken since 2011.  Our expert knowledge and experience of cloud solutions and data analytics fits very well and complements the overall Arkphire offering.  We are very excited to now become part of the Arkphire Group and to leverage the synergies we have to support our real growth potential. 

“Growth is part of the CloudStrong DNA and the acquisition by Arkphire will accelerate this ambition for the business as we seek to further utilise business opportunities from Arkphire’s footprint.  It’s a fantastic day for Mayo and cements the region as a great location to operate and grow a business.”          

Commenting on the acquisition, Barry Egan, Regional Director - West, Enterprise Ireland said, “Enterprise Ireland congratulates Arkphire and CloudStrong on this acquisition, and welcomes Arkphire’s expansion to Castlebar as a result. CloudStrong’s specialised cloud offering has been instrumental in attracting and retaining talent and supporting local enterprise in the region. At Enterprise Ireland, we are committed to the support of innovative, indigenous companies with global ambition and the potential to grow in new markets.  We look forward to supporting Arkphire develop its cloud technology centre of excellence in Castlebar as it continues with its ambitious growth plans.”

Headquartered in Sandyford, Dublin, Arkphire currently employs over 90 people across its various divisions providing a range of IT services, from IT procurement through to managed services, networking and the data centre.  This latest acquisition will now see Arkphire add specialist cloud consultancy support and expertise to directly support clients looking to consider and adopt cloud-based solutions that can help them transform the way their businesses operate.

Last month, Arkphire secured an investment into its business from Bregal Milestone, a private capital firm, managing a new €400m pan-European fund dedicated to investing in high-growth European companies.  This investment has been earmarked to support Arkphire through further growth opportunities, both organically and through potential merger and acquisition activity. Today’s announcement marks the first new acquisition for Arkphire following its investment by Bregal Milestone.        

About Arkphire:

Arkphire is a leading IT solutions and networking company with operations in Dublin and London.  For more than 40 years, Arkphire has been working as a trusted partner on behalf of its customers, providing technology expertise, products and support services that deliver successful outcomes for their customers.

Arkphire’s customers cover large multinationals, leading Irish organisations and public sector agencies within a wide range of industries including telecommunications, Internet based businesses, finance, healthcare and energy. 

Today the business has an unrivalled network of partnership accreditations with all of the leading manufacturers covering Apple, Cisco, Dell EMC, HP, Lenovo, VMware and Veritas among others.

Web: www.arkphire.com

About CloudStrong

Founded in 2011, CloudStrong specialises in providing cloud solutions and expertise to businesses and organisations that are looking to use cloud computing to achieve digital transformation in the way a business can more effectively operate. The company has established a position as Ireland and UK’s largest Microsoft cloud specialist. To date, CloudStrong has helped more than 30,000 Irish and UK workers successfully move to the Microsoft cloud. As a leading Microsoft partner, CloudStrong has achieved Gold Cloud Solutions and Microsoft Certifications.

Among CloudStrong’s customers are companies such as TG4, Portwest, Boston Scientific and Topflight.    

For more information, please visit www.cloudstrong.ie