Private equity group, Inflexion, has increased its shareholding in Manchester’s UKFast, to around 75%.
As a result it will become the cloud hosting company’s majority shareholder and will start the hunt for a new Chief Executive.
Founders Lawrence and Gail Jones have exited the business as a result of the move.
In a joint statement they said:
“We chose Inflexion initially because of their track record growing businesses and are confident we’re leaving UKFast in great hands.”
Lawrence Jones stepped down as CEO last October, in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. At the time, he said he was taking a “leave of absence” and maintained that allegations contained in the Financial Times article were “false and malicious.”
The FT published a detailed investigation into his alleged behaviour, after interviewing “more than 30 former employees.”
His wife, and co-founder, Gail Jones had taken on Chief Executive responsibilities in his absence.
The pair each owned 30.9% of UKFast, having already sold a 31.6% stake to Inflection in 2019.
It’s one of a series of changes at UKFast, which has also announced that it has taken an option to acquire cyber security business Secarma.
The company has also appointed Richard Bishop to its board of directors as non-executive chair. Bishop spent 22 years at 3i before becoming Head of investments at the Business Growth Fund in 2011.
