Chambers IT provider CTS sold after falling into administration

A major IT service provider to the legal industry has been bought out of administration after it was hit with a cyber-attack in late 2023.

Peter Dickens, Sarah O’Toole and Helen Wheeler-Jones of PwC were appointed as joint administrators of City Business Solutions UK Ltd, Converge-IT.Net Ltd, Sprout Technologies Ltd, together ‘The Group’, which form the Managed Service Provider ‘MSP’ division of the CTS Group.

On appointment, the joint administrators completed a sale of the business and assets of The Group to Bluecube Cyber Security Solutions Limited. The sale includes the transfer of all business and assets, including all 140 staff members.

The Group, who are a specialist provider of cloud and managed IT services to legal firms and barristers’ chambers across the UK and Ireland, fell victim to a cyber-attack in November 2023.

The incident caused immense difficulties in trading with access to data severely limited for some customers.

While the Group was able to fully restore operations by the end of December 2023, the disruption inevitably brought financial pressure, which eventually led to its sale.

The announcement had no impact on the trading business of Tiger Eye Consulting Limited, which remains within the existing CTS Group. Sprout Technologies NZ Limited was also not included in the deal.

Helen Wheeler-Jones, joint administrator and director at PwC, said:

“We’re delighted to complete this deal in a highly challenging market, safeguarding the future of the Group and providing long-term certainty. Following a period of disruption, this deal represents the best outcome for the Group and its clients across the legal sector.”