A collective of Birmingham advisors led by Orbis has completed on Maven’s £2.75 million ‘buy-and-build’ investment in Flow Communications.

Flow is a provider of network infrastructure and IT security solutions, which was founded in 2008 by Nick Sonigra.

The company has expanded quickly and counts a number of large service providers among its clients.

Over the last 18 months Orbis has worked closely with the shareholders to explore a number of options to unlock the next stage of growth for the company. For Orbis the transaction was led by Shah Zaki and Simon Lloydbottom.

Mr Zaki said: “The Maven investment represents a substantial opportunity for Flow to accelerate their growth plans and sets up a great opportunity for a buy-and-build in the sector.

“Having invested alongside the management team we will now focus on supporting this strategy in the coming years.”

Mr Sonigra added: “Orbis’ knowledge of the sector and transaction expertise was key in achieving my objective of taking Flow into the next stage of its growth.

“Their diligence and enthusiasm throughout has been invaluable and I look forward to working with them in this next phase of growth.”

Andrew Ferguson, partner at Maven, said: “Flow operates in a market that has significant growth opportunities, which its experienced management team can exploit.

“The business is known for the technical expertise and customer service that it provides enterprise customers and we are excited to have the opportunity to work as management’s equity partner and help grow the company both organically and via bolt-on acquisitions.”

Management’s legal advice was provided by Lee Clifford from Freeths, with Simon Gill and Mark Canning from Gateley acting for Maven. Financial due diligence was provided by Grant Thornton.