SEP announces investment in communications technology leader
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has completed a £25m investment in Redwood Technologies Group (Redwood), acquiring a minority stake in the UK-headquartered international provider of communications technology and cloud contact centre solutions.
Redwood has experienced strong and profitable organic growth, with revenues increasing by 30% in both 2017 and 2016. SEP’s involvement, the first external investment that Redwood has accepted in its 25-year history, will accelerate a global expansion strategy that focuses on Asia-Pac for 2018, with a regional office opening in Tokyo during Q1.
Redwood owns the cloud communications provider Content Guru, which in 2016 received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation. Content Guru operates primarily in the $2.8bn contact centre technology marketplace, a sector set to grow by 22%1 in 2018.
Originally founded in 1993 by brothers Sean and Martin Taylor in Bracknell, Berkshire, Redwood has deployed communications solutions to more than 50 countries from its offices in Europe and North America.
The Group’s storm® platforms provide ‘mission-critical communications’ to a blue-chip client base of utilities, travel, financial services and retail organisations, as well as government and public sector bodies.
Andrew Davison, a partner at SEP, who joins the board of Redwood commented:
“We first met Redwood over three years ago and have tracked their impressive increase in market share which now sees them firmly placed amongst the leading global cloud based contact centre infrastructure vendors. Redwood is a fantastic addition to our enterprise software investment portfolio and we are looking forward to working with the founders and wider team to further scale the business internationally.”
Sean Taylor, CEO and co-founder of the Redwood Technologies Group, said:
“Redwood Technologies Group has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years, driven by the increasing adoption of cloud services by enterprise and public sector. This investment will ensure we continue to grow strongly, both in existing markets and new territories. We selected our investment partner very carefully and SEP’s strong financial track record and the culture of its team really impressed us.”
