Private equity has spent much of 2026 taking a hard look at UK business communications, and this week it landed its biggest catch yet. Gamma Communications, the infrastructure firm whose voice network powers O2 Daisy and whose BroadWorks enablement underpins UCaaS platforms sold through more than 1,500 resellers and MSPs across four European markets, has agreed to go private.
The buyer is Epiris, offering 1,120p a share in cash, which values the business at roughly £1.015bn on a fully diluted basis, with an implied enterprise value of about £1.079bn. That's a 53% premium on Gamma's closing share price of 732p on 7 April, the day before it entered its offer period. The board is recommending the deal unanimously, and directors who hold shares have already committed to vote in favour.
Four Months, Three Bidders, One Winner
UC Today reported in May that Gamma had entered its offer period after confirming talks with three parties: Providence Equity Partners, Epiris, and a consortium of Oakley Capital and cloud marketplace provider Giacom. Providence and Epiris briefly joined forces before Providence walked away to pursue other opportunities in the sector, leaving Epiris as the last bidder standing and the one whose terms the board has now accepted.
CEO Andrew Belshaw had already made the case for why a buyer would want Gamma, telling UC Today in May that running an in-house communications platform no longer makes sense for most providers.
Running your own communications platform is increasingly complex. From rising compliance pressures to the cost and pace of innovation, it simply doesn't make commercial sense for many providers. That's where Gamma comes in.
That shift toward wholesale infrastructure, rather than direct SME sales, has given Gamma a cleaner and more predictable revenue base than most of its peers. The numbers bear it out: full-year 2025 revenue of £645.8m, gross profit of £348.2m, and adjusted EBITDA of £141.7m, with recurring revenue making up 89% of the total. Gamma reports interim results for the six months to 30 June on 7 September, and says current trading is in line with those expected figures.
Chair Martin Hellawell framed the deal in similar terms when it was announced, less a necessity than a chance to lock in certainty while the business is strong.
Gamma has built a leading position in European business communications through sustained investment in its products, technology, people and customer relationships. The Board remains confident in the Company's strategy and long-term prospects. The Board has nevertheless concluded that the Acquisition provides Gamma Shareholders with attractive and certain value in cash.
What Epiris Wants From Taking Gamma Private
Epiris has been fairly direct about its reasoning. Taking Gamma private frees it from the reporting cycle of a listed company and gives it room to invest harder in products, commercial execution and AI adoption, an ambition that lines up neatly with how much of Gamma's own product work on Horizon and its Webex-integrated platforms already leans on AI.
