Datacraft has confirmed that it has made a conditional offer to buy Integral/Axon Computer Systems. The transaction is expected to be completed by November 1. Neither party will disclose the purchase price. It’s being positioned as an acquisition of capability. Datacraft NZ managing director Robin Hartendorp says. Datacraft set out to acquire a company that provided strong competencies in IT infrastructure management to complement Datacraft’s network management focus.
“We also wanted to grow our application development business and connect it with our infrastructure capability,” he says.
Datacraft had looked at four companies before deciding on Integral/Axon. Hartendorp wouldn’t name the other companies.
All staff will be retained and will operate out of existing premises. He says Datacraft has been adding 10 staff per month recently. Datacraft has 220 staff, and Integral/Axon 360.
With 90 developers and 200 professional services staff, Datacraft becomes one of the largest Microsoft practices in New Zealand.
Datacraft is owned by Dimension Data, a $US 4 billion company, and will operate under that brand for at least the next two years. Dimension Data will be bought by Japanese giant NTT ($US100 billion) later this month.
More acquisitions are on the cards. Datacraft Asia ceo Bill Padfield says the company has a very strong balance sheet with no debt. “We’re working on a pipeline of acquisitions in Asia Pacific,” he says. “We’ll continue to hunt in New Zealand.”
Integral/Axon was formed in May following the acquisition of Axon by Integral.
Hartendorp says the previous owners have opted to exit the company and hand over responsibility for the transition to the Datacraft management team. Ray Noonan, who led the acquisition of Integral/Axon, has chosen to step aside. Hartendorp will lead the transition.
“Our lines of business, client base and geography complement rather than compete,” he says. “This will enable us to leverage new growth opportunities across the public sector and commercial markets.
“Our plans are to navigate the journey to cloud services for our clients, providing a blend of on-premise, private and hybrid cloud offerings.”