Woolf Partners has acquired UK-based Microsoft solution partner Akari Solutions Group, Ltd. A multi-award-winning technical firm, Akari specialises in tailored solutions using the Microsoft technology stack and apps that sit on top of Microsoft Teams and the Power Platform, to solve specific business challenges.
Stuart Fenton, Managing Partner for Woolf Partners, announced that significant investment would be made to expand the business’s capability, capacity and scale.
Woolf Partners was advised by martinwolf, a global leader in mid-market mergers and acquisitions focusing on Microsoft, Oracle and ServiceNow Channel Partners, as well as MSPs, MSSPs, and IT Services businesses.
Akari has extensive consulting, implementation and managed services capabilities across the Microsoft Power Platform which comprises Power Automate, Power BI, Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents. Plus, key skills across Microsoft Modern Workplace and Microsoft Teams. These all represent the fastest growth areas for Microsoft.
Andrea Bright, formerly COO of QUANTIQ, will become CEO of Akari, allowing company founder Margaret Totten to concentrate on her core communications strengths and creative passion in leading marketing and alliances as CMO. Margaret will also remain on the company’s board. Derek Walton joins as Chief Financial Officer, with Woolf Partners Mike Lazenby and Peter Martin becoming non-executive board members.
“I have watched Margaret and her team at Akari build one of the most respected new technology firms in this space, and wanted to back them to accelerate that growth,” said Stuart Fenton. “This is a strategic investment to build upon the tremendous potential of Akari’s innovative technical talent and ideas that have already made such a positive impact.”
Margaret Totten commented “Stuart and his team bring capital and a wealth of experience to help drive and grow Akari to greater heights - we continue to be committed to Microsoft technologies and expect to expand within Power Platform, Teams, Modern Workplace, Data & Analytics and Security.”
Future plans for the company include the opening of a new office in London near Microsoft in order to enable a closer working relationship with the tech giant. Akari’s base in Glasgow will remain, with hybrid working continuing to be a key practice.
Andrea Bright commented: “I am thrilled to be working with the team at Akari to scale the team, add more capabilities and bring these technologies to many more clients in the UK and beyond.”
About Woolf Partners
Woolf Partners is focused on business performance. It is a group of experienced leaders with a strong track record in scale-ups, turnarounds, and organisation optimisation. The team invests for the long term in target organisations with a view to accelerating growth and profit by innovating strategies, tactics, operating processes, systems, and funding.
Aboutmartinwolf:
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with an office in Cleveland,martinwolf is a leading M&A Advisory focused on middle market companies in the IT Services and Supply Chain, Managed Services, Security and Software sectors. Since 1997,martinwolf has completed more than 220 transactions in more than 25 countries and sold eight divisions ofFortune 500companies. In 2021, the firm acquired ITX, a leader in smaller mid-market (sub $25M) transactions.
Martinwolf is a member of FINRAandSIPC. For more information, please visitwww.martinwolf.com.
Media Contact:
Stuart Fenton
stuart@woolfpartners.com
