Kiwi Fronde makes Australian acquisition

New Zealand-based IT services company Fronde has acquired 100 percent of OnlineOne, a privately held Australian-based cloud design and integration business specialising in NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, for an undisclosed sum.

According to the company, the acquisition will enhance Fronde’s cloud integration offering for Australasian enterprises while also allowing leverage of NetSuite capability into the New Zealand market.

Fronde CEO Ian Clarke says the acquisition will create critical mass for the company's Australian business operations. “As well as expanding our footprint into Victoria and Queensland, this acquisition will increase Fronde’s NetSuite capability in Australasia and will enhance our ability to accelerate our clients’ business goals through cloud integration,” he says.

The two companies had a long relationship, which initially started with OnlineOne as the implementer of Fronde's internal NetSuite ERP system.

As part of the acquisition, OnlineOne co-founders, Don McLean and Craig Traub, have given long-term commitments to Fronde and will report directly to CEO, Ian Clarke. McLean has been appointed general manager of Sales Australia, with Traub appointed general manager of Operations Australia.

McLean assures there will be no change for OnlineOne clients, who, he adds, will immediately benefit from a broader offering of cloud products and services. 

“We recognised that Fronde and OnlineOne share a common vision in delivering cloud-based solutions to our customers. With similar culture and values, together we will be better positioned to deliver a new industry standard for business cloud systems in all areas of service, quality, delivery and support," says the co-founder.

OnlineOne employees and contractors will continue to be based in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland. The employees joining Fronde will expand Fronde’s team to over 320 people with significant potential to further grow technology jobs.

According to Clarke, this transaction has no relationship to the advice from the Board to shareholders on April 11 that they not sell their shares. The Board will update this advice as more information becomes available.