Octopus Investments and YFM Private Equity have announced a £3.95m joint investment in Bluebell Telecom who will use the new funding to expand and, in particular, incorporate Callstream, the inbound telephony specialist, into a newly formed Bluebell Telecom Group.
Callstream’s technology provides customers with “cost effective management of external and internal communication” through its cloud-based platform, and the tie-up with Bluebell will strengthen the latter’s position as a “market-leading provider of unified communications” targeting retail, hospitality and care markets, says the company.
Octopus and YFM’s investment is said to come in the form of “an innovative combination of debt and equity”, reflecting the “post banking crisis” period and will support Bluebell’s plans for growth in “these challenging economic times”, says Nigel Barraclough, Investment Director at YFM.
While Stuart Nicol of Octopus, echoes the same conservative sentiment, commenting: “This transaction with Bluebell has all the features that Octopus looks for in the companies it backs. We look forward to helping them grow quickly and safely.”