Panacea finds new partner in ISIS

ISIS Equity Partners ("ISIS") in partnership with the Panacea management team has successfully completed a management buyout of the Panacea Group.

ISIS has invested £6.187m as part of the transaction alongside senior debt and working capital facilities from Lloyds TSB Acquisition Finance.

Panacea is a leading IT business solutions provider offering systems integration and outsourced IT services to the UK mid-market, working in partnership with blue-chip corporations including Microsoft, IBM, Business Objects and Sage. Headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire and with offices in Hook, Hampshire and Honiton, Devon, the company employs over one hundred staff.

With a customer base of 100 corporate organisations and over 600 mid-sized clients, Panacea provides specialist business process re-engineering, project management and resourcing, systems design and application integration, bespoke solutions, implementation and managed support services.

The Management buyout was led by Chief Executive Paul Turner. He commented: "The investment strengthens Panacea's financial position and its vision to grow and deliver improved customer service. This move represents a significant and exciting opportunity for Panacea's clients, staff and business partners."

Andy Gregory, who led the deal for ISIS, adds: "We are delighted to be supporting Panacea and the management buyout team. The business has an excellent breadth and depth of IT skills enabling it to provide its client base with high quality solutions. We are confident that Paul and the rest of the management team will continue to successfully grow Panacea in what is a dynamic market place."

Panacea's strategy is to grow the business through a combination of offering best-of-breed solutions from the world's leading software vendors coupled with outstanding customer service, integration skills and end-to-end support.

Andy Gregory and Martin Robertson will join the Panacea board on behalf of ISIS. Joining the business as Chairman is Tim Bittleston, former Group Chief Executive of DigiPoS Group.

Published: 15 May, 2006