Utilising its own data centre and network infrastructure, iomart can provide a scaleable and economical solutions for the hosting and managing of complex mission critical applications and services and all delivered with 100% Uptime.


Commenting on the latest company acquisition (Iomart is now planning to take full control of the Easyspace Datacentres, for which it paid 11 million for a 51 percent stake last year. Glasgow-based Iomart will now pay 4.8m for the remainder of the company in two years):

Chief executive Angus MacSween said there had also been a lack of investment in the (data)centres across the UK. "A decade ago there was oversupply in datacentre capacity, but in that time there's been very little new capacity added and now there's a shortage, which has driven up prices significantly."

House brokers, KBC Peel Hunt said the deal was "potentially transformational".


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Websites:
http://www.iomart.com/


http://www.iomartgroup.com/


Investor information:
http://www.iomartgroup.com/investors_iomart.php

KBC Peel Hunt Brokers note (24.08.2007)


The current valuation represents a substantial discount to a sum of the parts
valuation, given the cash generative nature of the legacy webservices division and
the exposure to highly sought after datacentres. Datacentre value derives from
extremely limited supply: in London, for example, CBRE estimates c.4% available
furnished datacentre space, which is expected to be exhausted by year end.
iomart has a 55,000 sq ft portfolio of datacentres based in five cities around the UK.

The value of a datacentre: We estimate the replacement cost of the datacentres
at 33m, while at the IXEurope EBITDA exit multiple we could assume 59m. If we
remove that value from IOMs current market cap then the derived value of the
webservices division is 20m, equivalent to a mere 3.3x March 2009E PBT (no
cash tax being payable), and only 6.5x March 2008E.

The value of webservices: We are not being ambitious in assigning a 10x PER to
webservices March 2009E PBT, which leads us to a valuation of 61m. The
division, consisting mainly of ufindus, the online business directory, and
Easyspace, the domain and web hosting business, and is cash generative. On that
basis, the value of the datacentres is negative!

We therefore reiterate that the current market valuation is, in our opinion, below any
reasonable sum of the parts assessment. Our lowest case, of 10x March 2008E for
webservices (therefore 31m) and replacement cost of 33m for datacentres,
would equate to 65p. Our best case at 10x March 2009E PER for webservices and
59m for datacentres would equate to 120p. We would suggest a 90-100p range is
the reasonable compromise that can be justified without reaching metrics that
would be testing: webservices at 10x March 2009E PER, and datacentres at 33m.

The company announced at finals in June that it had been able to secure 100%
ownership of Easyspace datacentres, 18 months earlier than was expected as a
best result, due to the defaulted contribution of the co-owner 186k. The potential
maximum cash payment to secure the 100% was 20m, whereas now the
minimum, 4.8m, will be payable in April 2009, although 100% ownership is
expected to accrue from October. The initial depression to group PBT is
dramatically improved by the benefit following March 2008E.

Industry observers regard data centres as the next big boom in global technology growth, as companies and institutions seek to store more and more information on computers.

Easyspace currently operates data centres in Glasgow and Nottingham, and it recently opened a new, high-specification centre in the heart of the City of London.

The company, whose data base customers include Stagecoach to Strathclyde Police, will also open new facilities in Leicester and Leeds later this year.

"Our timely entry into the data centre market and the very encouraging response to our initial marketing reinforces our view that there is significant growth potential which can be delivered in the medium term," MacSween said.

I'm no chartists but looks like a double bottom on the chart, could be in for a nice bounce (hopefully upwards).

On the move this morning, after some large trades yesterday.

Sector specific news:

International Bus Mach IBM buying data storage company NovusCG




ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) - International Business Machines Corp. said Wednesday it
agreed to purchase privately-held data storage company NovusCG.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
IBM said Novus will join IBM Global Technology Services' storage and data
services business unit.
IBM said the purchase, when combined with its services, will aid clients'
abilities to access business information, permit stronger regulatory and
corporate compliance and improve general information technology performance.


http://www.advfn.com/news_IBM-buying-data-storage-company-NovusCG_22889018.html