Vodafone Group laid the groundwork to up its business cloud game through a deal to acquire German specialist Skaylink for €175 million.

The cloud service provider is currently owned by funds managed by private equity player Waterland. It operates in Germany and other European markets.

Vodafone highlighted Skaylink’s specialisms also include digital transformation and security.

The operator explained the acquisition would boost the digital services it can provide to public sector and business customers.

Acquiring Skaylink advances Vodafone’s goals to “accelerate growth in key areas” including “security, managed services and cloud”, it stated.

Skaylink’s staff of 500 are experts in managing cloud deployments on Microsoft and AWS. Vodafone also noted capabilities in AI implementation.

In its own statement, Skaylink noted it is expanding in the private and sovereign cloud segment with bespoke offers. AI is another key focus area.

Waterland managing partner Gregor Hengst said Skaylink showed an “impressive trajectory” over the past five years, offering a “comprehensive service” in a market which was previously fragmented.

Skaylink CEO Frank Strecker backed Vodafone to maintain and expand a company he said “continuously pushes the boundaries of cloud and security technologies”.

Vodafone aims to complete the deal by end-March 2026, subject to obtaining all required regulatory approvals.