Pictet Alternative Advisors, the alternative investment business of the Pictet Group, has confirmed that its direct private equity team has acquired Technology Services Group (TSG), a provider of managed IT services.

TSG, a fully accredited Microsoft solutions partner for small and mid-sized businesses across the UK, specialises in helping businesses transition to cloud-based IT infrastructure.

Based in Newcastle and with over 250 full-time employees across offices including London and Glasgow, TSG serves 1,300 clients in the IT services market, driven by strong demand trends for outsourcing, digitalisation and the cloud transition.

Head of UK for direct private equity at Pictet, Andrzej Sokolowski, commented: “TSG has an attractive and defensible business model, a high proportion of recurring revenue, and customers who value its service quality and technical expertise across the Microsoft tech stack.

“We see significant potential to increase TSG’s growth organically and via M&A. That includes solution areas in Azure, Dynamics and cybersecurity, as well as accelerating deployment of AI tools.”

TSG CEO, Rory McKeand, added: “Pictet’s investment and hands-on partnership will catalyse the next stage of our growth. With the penetration of cloud services among UK SMEs increasing rapidly from a low base, and a new powerful generation of Microsoft productivity tools becoming available, there’s ongoing demand for our services across a large addressable market.”

Pictet acquired TSG from the original founder owners, Sir Graham Wylie and David Stonehouse, and from management, with the management team reinvesting proceeds as part of the transaction.

Speaking on behalf of the founder shareholders, Stonehouse said: “We are proud of the growth and success that TSG has achieved, creating a leading Microsoft and cloud focused national IT services provider of outstanding quality, with the potential to do even better. We wish Rory, his team, all the staff and Pictet all the best for the future.”

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