ANS Set for Sale as Inflexion Explores £400m Exit

Inflexion, a prominent European mid-market private equity firm, is reported to be in discussions to sell Manchester-based cloud hosting provider ANS for an estimated £400 million. The sale would mark a significant exit for Inflexion, which initially became involved with ANS through investments and mergers involving UKFast. Inflexion's partnership with UKFast began in 2018, a period marred by controversy following allegations against co-founder Lawrence Jones, leading to his eventual imprisonment for sexual offences and Inflexion gaining a majority stake in the company. The ANS brand emerged after Inflexion's acquisition and merger with UKFast's digital services, marking a key strategic repositioning. This planned sale by Inflexion follows its acquisition of ANS in June 2021 and subsequent formal merger and rebranding in January 2022. The strategic divestment is apparently in pursuit of capitalizing on the company’s strengthened position as a digital technology leader in the UK, with Arma Partners appointed to advise on the potential transaction. The combined entity under the leadership of CEO Richard Thompson is valued between £300 million and £400 million, drawing significant interest from other private equity stakeholders.