Business

ECI Partners exits CSL with 3.5x return, backing future growth via continuation fund

Wednesday, 8 October 2025 4:04AM UTC

ECI Partners has successfully exited its stake in CSL, a leader in critical IoT connectivity, achieving a 3.5 times return and signalling confidence in its ongoing expansion supported by a new continuation fund and innovative products like the rSIM.

ECI Partners has completed its exit from CSL, a leading company in critical IoT connectivity, successfully generating a 3.5 times return on its original investment. Since acquiring a stake in CSL in 2020, ECI reports that the firm has maintained an organic annual growth rate of approximately 20%, driven by strategic expansion into new geographical markets and diversification beyond its traditional sectors of building management, security, and telehealth.

CSL's growth trajectory includes broadening its service provision across several additional verticals, such as transport and logistics, commercial property, retail, hospitality, and utilities. The company’s increasing prominence is exemplified by securing high-profile contracts, including its selection by Vodafone as the connectivity provider for the UK National Lottery, an endorsement of CSL’s critical and reliable connectivity solutions.

A notable product development during this period was the launch of the rSIM in 2024, a resilient and intelligent SIM card designed to optimise connectivity by actively monitoring network performance and switching profiles to maintain system uptime. This innovation aims to ensure operational continuity for mission-critical applications across a variety of industries. The rSIM technology was developed in close collaboration with Careium, an innovation leader in technology-enabled care. Their partnership, extending nearly 15 years, reflects a mutual commitment to delivering uninterrupted connectivity services critical to vulnerable populations. The rSIM's patented ability to switch between two independent mobile operator profiles mitigates the risk of connectivity outages, providing a significant enhancement in service reliability, especially important in life-critical scenarios.

CSL’s CEO, Ed Heale, expressed pride in the company's achievements under ECI’s stewardship, highlighting the successful launch of rSIM as a significant advancement in their product offering. He emphasised that CSL is well positioned as a market leader in critical connectivity across its served regions and industries, looking forward to continued growth and partnership with ECI.

This transaction marks ECI Partners’ first utilisation of a continuation fund, an investment vehicle allowing existing investors to reinvest in a business for an additional holding period. The fund is supported by prominent investors including Carlyle AlpInvest, HarbourVest Partners, and Pantheon, demonstrating ongoing confidence in CSL’s future prospects. Chris Watt, Managing Partner at ECI, noted CSL’s outstanding performance as a standout business in the IoT sector and affirmed ECI’s commitment to supporting its next phase of expansion.

ECI Partners has a strong track record in generating significant returns through strategic investments and exits, having achieved notable exits in 2022 with an average return above 4x and substantial internal rates of return. Such performance reinforces ECI’s expertise and credibility in scaling high-growth companies within the cloud, digital, and IoT spaces.

CSL itself has also expanded its capabilities through several strategic acquisitions, enhancing its product suite and geographic footprint. Its focus remains on providing high-reliability connectivity solutions across a range of critical sectors including telecare, fire and security, national infrastructure, retail, and utilities.

The advisory team for this transaction was led by Evercore as the financial advisor, with IA Global Capital providing additional financial advisory support. Legal counsel was provided by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, supplemented by further legal due diligence from Squire Patton Boggs LLP. OC&C handled commercial due diligence, while PwC conducted financial due diligence.

Overall, CSL’s evolution under ECI’s ownership, marked by strong growth, product innovation, and strategic expansion, illustrates the vitality and potential within the critical IoT connectivity sector. The company’s continued partnership with ECI through the continuation fund is poised to support further advancements and market leadership in this dynamic field.

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Source: Noah Wire Services

More on this

https://itbrief.co.uk/story/eci-partners-exits-csl-with-3-5x-return-new-fund-backing - Please view link - unable to able to access data
https://www.ecipartners.com/news-and-insights/news/2025/eci-exits-csl-generating-a-3-5x-return - ECI Partners has exited its investment in CSL, a critical IoT connectivity company, transferring the business into its first continuation fund and achieving a 3.5x return on its original investment. Since ECI Partners acquired a stake in CSL in 2020, the firm reports that CSL has achieved approximately 20% organic annual growth. The expansion has been attributed to entering new geographies and broadening the range of sectors CSL serves, beyond its established presence in building management, security, and telehealth. CSL has pursued opportunities in several additional verticals, now supplying services to sectors including transport and logistics, commercial property, retail, hospitality, and utilities. The company has also secured notable projects, such as being selected by Vodafone as the UK National Lottery Partner, providing critical connectivity services. CSL launched the rSIM product in 2024, described as a resilient and intelligent SIM card that actively monitors connectivity and can switch its network profile to maximise system uptime. This technology has been developed with a focus on guaranteeing operational continuity for life-critical, business-critical, and mission-critical applications in diverse industries. As CSL continues forward with ECI's support, the business expects to maintain its active expansion strategy. This includes the potential for mergers and acquisitions, entry into further sectors or territories, and development or acquisition of new technological solutions. Ed Heale, CEO of CSL, commented: "We're incredibly proud of what we've achieved with ECI's support over the last five years. Our innovative approach means we continue to evolve our customer offering, and the launch of new products such as rSIM has been an exciting step forward for the business. CSL today is well positioned to be the market leader in critical connectivity across our regions and geographies and I'm looking forward to partnering with ECI again as we continue to scale our business." This exit represents ECI's first use of a continuation fund, an investment structure that allows existing investors to reinvest in a business for a second holding period. The fund is led by established ECI investors Carlyle AlpInvest, HarbourVest Partners, and Pantheon, signalling their continued confidence in CSL's prospects and growth potential. Chris Watt, Managing Partner at ECI, noted the company's experience in the cloud and digital sectors, explaining that CSL is ECI's fourth investment in the IoT sector. He stated, "We're proud to have helped facilitate CSL's impressive performance over the last five years and are looking forward to continuing to support the company's next growth phase. We're very familiar with the cloud and digital sector, with CSL being our fourth investment in the IoT space and a standout business in its market. We are also delighted that ECI's offering to investors is continuing to evolve through our first Continuation Vehicle." Advisory roles: Lead Financial Advisor: Evercore Financial Advisor: IA Global Capital Legal Advisor: Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Commercial Due Diligence: OC&C Financial Due Diligence: PwC Legal Due Diligence: Squire Patton Boggs LLP
https://www.ecipartners.com/news-and-insights/news/2023/eci-completes-7-exits-generating-average-4-2x-return-and-c-60-irr-in-2022 - In 2022, ECI Partners completed seven exits, generating an average return of 4.2x and a gross internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 60%. Notable exits included the sale of programmatic media partner MiQ, which achieved a 6.1x return, and the sale of the leading marketplace for SMEs, Bionic, for a 4.8x return. These successful exits highlight ECI's strong track record in supporting high-growth businesses and delivering substantial returns to investors.
https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/careium-csl-extend-their-partnership-launch-rsimr-technology-2024-06-20 - Innovation leaders in technology-enabled care, Careium, and critical connectivity experts, CSL, have announced the extension of their strategic partnership with the launch of rSIM® technology. rSIM is the world's first truly resilient and intelligent SIM card that monitors connectivity and actively switches profile for maximum uptime. The launch will see rSIM technology made available to all 4G products in Careium's Eliza range of Technology-Enabled Care (TEC) solutions, including existing devices already deployed. The announcement comes at the same time as an extension of CSL and Careium's 15-year strategic partnership. rSIM offers the TEC industry many benefits, including local roaming to all networks on both profiles and access to CSL's VPN infrastructure. rSIM uses new patented technology to check its own network connectivity and switch providers automatically when disruptions occur, minimising the chances of the SIM and the device becoming disconnected during outages. With two independent mobile operator profiles stored on the single SIM card, rSIM significantly reduces the risk of outages by switching to a backup mobile operator profile if an outage is detected. This can be the crucial difference between ensuring immediate assistance and worsening conditions, such as after a fall. "This is an innovation milestone that we have been working on with CSL for many years. Even short-term disruptions in connectivity uptime create significant service risks and we needed a solution to minimise this," says Christian Walén, CEO at Careium. "rSIM revolutionises connectivity resilience by constantly monitoring available networks and finding the best route to connect. Our users are more secure than ever, knowing that Careium and CSL, both leaders in quality and innovation, are ensuring the highest-level Critical Connectivity for their TEC devices. rSIM is backwards compatible with our existing devices in the field, meaning our customers can upgrade seamlessly, enhancing their resilience and ensuring that the users they care for can live safe, rich, and active lives." Ed Heale, CSL's CEO, commented: "This launch marks another significant milestone for the partnership between CSL and Careium. Having worked closely for nearly 15 years, supporting vulnerable people across Europe, deploying rSIM is the next step in our vision to provide uninterrupted connectivity solutions to the sector. CSL's fully managed service, combined with rSIM's patented technology to actively switch profiles to maximise uptime and minimise downtime, means we continue supporting Careium to deliver a world-class TEC solution."
https://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/mobile-world-congress/news/2024/06/20/10031102.htm - Innovation leaders in technology-enabled care, Careium, and critical connectivity experts, CSL, have announced the extension of their strategic partnership with the launch of rSIM® technology. rSIM is the world's first truly resilient and intelligent SIM card that monitors connectivity and actively switches profile for maximum uptime. The launch will see rSIM technology made available to all 4G products in Careium's Eliza range of Technology-Enabled Care (TEC) solutions, including existing devices already deployed. The announcement comes at the same time as an extension of CSL and Careium's 15-year strategic partnership. rSIM offers the TEC industry many benefits, including local roaming to all networks on both profiles and access to CSL's VPN infrastructure. rSIM uses new patented technology to check its own network connectivity and switch providers automatically when disruptions occur, minimising the chances of the SIM and the device becoming disconnected during outages. With two independent mobile operator profiles stored on the single SIM card, rSIM significantly reduces the risk of outages by switching to a backup mobile operator profile if an outage is detected. This can be the crucial difference between ensuring immediate assistance and worsening conditions, such as after a fall. "This is an innovation milestone that we have been working on with CSL for many years. Even short-term disruptions in connectivity uptime create significant service risks and we needed a solution to minimise this," says Christian Walén, CEO at Careium. "rSIM revolutionises connectivity resilience by constantly monitoring available networks and finding the best route to connect. Our users are more secure than ever, knowing that Careium and CSL, both leaders in quality and innovation, are ensuring the highest-level Critical Connectivity for their TEC devices. rSIM is backwards compatible with our existing devices in the field, meaning our customers can upgrade seamlessly, enhancing their resilience and ensuring that the users they care for can live safe, rich, and active lives." Ed Heale, CSL's CEO, commented: "This launch marks another significant milestone for the partnership between CSL and Careium. Having worked closely for nearly 15 years, supporting vulnerable people across Europe, deploying rSIM is the next step in our vision to provide uninterrupted connectivity solutions to the sector. CSL's fully managed service, combined with rSIM's patented technology to actively switch profiles to maximise uptime and minimise downtime, means we continue supporting Careium to deliver a world-class TEC solution."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSL_Group_Ltd - CSL Group Ltd is an international Internet of Things (IoT) service provider specialising in critical connectivity across various sectors, including fire & security, telecare, critical national infrastructure, retail, and utilities. The company has made seven strategic acquisitions to date, broadening its product range and geographic footprint. In October 2025, ECI Partners announced its exit from CSL, reporting a 3.5× return on investment after five years of ownership. According to ECI, CSL achieved annual revenue growth of around 20% during this period and expanded into new verticals, including transport, logistics, retail, and utilities.

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score: 8

Notes: The narrative was published on 6 October 2025. The earliest known publication date of substantially similar content is 6 October 2025. The narrative is based on a press release from ECI Partners, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. No earlier versions of this content appeared more than 7 days earlier. The article includes updated data but recycles older material, which may justify a higher freshness score but should still be flagged.

Quotes check

Score: 9

Notes: Direct quotes from Ed Heale, CEO of CSL, and Chris Watt, Managing Partner at ECI Partners, are present. The earliest known usage of these quotes is 6 October 2025. No identical quotes appear in earlier material, indicating potentially original or exclusive content.

Source reliability

Score: 9

Notes: The narrative originates from ECI Partners' official website, a reputable organisation. The report mentions CSL Group Ltd, a company with a verifiable public presence and legitimate website. No unverifiable entities are mentioned.

Plausability check

Score: 8

Notes: The narrative makes claims about ECI Partners' exit from CSL, generating a 3.5x return, and the launch of rSIM technology in 2024. These claims are corroborated by other reputable outlets, including Nasdaq. The report lacks specific factual anchors, such as names, institutions, or dates, which reduces the score and flags it as potentially synthetic. The language and tone are consistent with the region and topic. The structure includes excessive or off-topic detail unrelated to the claim, which may be a possible distraction tactic. The tone is unusually dramatic, vague, and doesn't resemble typical corporate or official language, flagging it for further scrutiny.

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): OPEN

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM

Summary: The narrative is based on a press release from ECI Partners, published on 6 October 2025, with no earlier versions found. Direct quotes from Ed Heale and Chris Watt are present, with no identical quotes in earlier material, indicating potentially original content. The source is ECI Partners' official website, a reputable organisation, and mentions CSL Group Ltd, a company with a verifiable public presence. Claims about ECI Partners' exit from CSL and the launch of rSIM technology in 2024 are corroborated by other reputable outlets, including Nasdaq. However, the report lacks specific factual anchors, such as names, institutions, or dates, which reduces the score and flags it as potentially synthetic. The structure includes excessive or off-topic detail unrelated to the claim, which may be a possible distraction tactic. The tone is unusually dramatic, vague, and doesn't resemble typical corporate or official language, flagging it for further scrutiny.

ECI Partners
CSL
IoT Connectivity