Iomart credited with £10m for acquisition

IOMART, the Glasgow-based web hosting outfit, has assembled a £10 million war chest to fund further acquisitions.

Lloyds Banking Group has stumped up a fresh credit facility for the Aim-listed company, which is due to report its full-year results this morning. Profits of 3m are forecast.

News of the acquisition strategy comes a year after Iomart swooped on Maidenhead-based server hosting company RapidSwitch.

Angus MacSween, the Scots firm's chief executive, said: "Last year we disposed of a non-core business and used some of the cash to make the strategic acquisition of RapidSwitch. We expected the acquisition to be immediately earnings-enhancing and this has been the case.

"The market reaction to our goal of becoming the UK's leading managed hosting and cloud computing services company has been very encouraging to date, and we are convinced that further acquisitions will accelerate both our growth and our profits."

Graham Silcock, relationship director in Glasgow and the west for Lloyds' corporate markets division, added: "The provision of an acquisition facility on this scale demonstrates both Iomart's appetite for growth and our commitment to supporting strong Scottish businesses with appropriate finance."