Alantra advises leading Azure specialist, Sol-Tec, on its sale to IT Lab

Mar 2020

Sell-side advisory

Alantra, the independent global mid-market investment banking, alternative asset management and credit portfolio advisory firm, has advised Sol-Tec Limited (“Sol-Tec”), one of Microsoft’s leading Azure partners in the UK, on its sale to IT Lab, the technology service and solutions provider business behind McLaren F1 sports cars.

Sol-Tec has enabled public sector giants including the Department of Work and Pensions, HMRC, and the Department for Education, along with private sector organisations, to confidently and cost-effectively take advantage of Azure services. 

Sol-Tec supports private sector businesses (such as a top three UK supermarket chain and a top five online financial services provider) in leveraging the power of Azure. It applies its deep Azure expertise and Sol-Tec’s proprietary Velocity Landing Zone methodology, to expedite the deployment and configuration of highly scalable and secure baseline Azure environments.

IT Lab is focusing on Microsoft’s three clouds (Office 365, Azure and Dynamics 365) and there is a clear strategic fit with Sol-Tec, which advances its Azure capability particularly within the public sector.

The Alantra team included partner James Chapman-Andrews, directors Emmet Keating and Simon Roberts, associate Luke Parvin and analyst Milan Vashi.

James Chapman-Andrews, Partner and UK Head of TMT, Alantra said: “Service providers that are enabling customers to move infrastructure and applications to the public cloud are currently in very high demand, driven by the current and projected growth in this market. Sol-Tec specialised in Azure migration early on, aligning closely with Microsoft and the public sector, making it a strategic asset. In IT Lab our client has found an excellent home and I wish both Sol-Tec and IT Lab teams the very best for a productive future together.”

Nik Topham, CEO and founder, Sol-Tec, commented: “IT Lab was the natural home for Sol-Tec, with its dedicated focus on Microsoft and the deep expertise already established across Modern Workplace and Dynamics 365, Sol-Tec’s exceptional Azure capability complements and strengthens the ability of IT Lab to help our combined clients truly leverage the power of the Microsoft Cloud. In addition to this being a great capability fit from our client’s perspective, our cultures, ethos and ambitions align perfectly.”

Peter Sweetbaum, CEO, IT Lab added: “Sol-Tec is a true Azure expert, with market leading expertise in the design, deployment and configuration of secure and compliant Azure environments.  We are incredibly excited to add Sol-Tec’s award-winning Azure expertise to our market leading Modern Workplace and Dynamic 365 practices, further solidifying IT Lab as one of the UK’s leading Microsoft focused cloud services and solutions providers.”