Jasco gets leg up with acquisition of Cross Fire
Jasco Electronics has acquired Cross Fire Management for R52.3m in a deal that will make it one of the top three suppliers of fire detection, suppression and protection solutions.
The acquisition will also give Jasco access to the West African market, while on the other hand, growing revenues from its Fire Solutions business to more than R200m from R30m.
Jasco CEO Pete da Silva said the acquisition fulfilled the group’s strategy of “moving up the value chain towards a higher-margin professional service and consulting offering in our Fire [Solutions] business”.
Jasco is 44.71% black and black-woman owned.
The company has been focusing on contracts and businesses with high margins.
It has also set a minimum target of R150m in revenue for each business unit.
The group’s decision to abandon contracts with low margins is paying off.
Most of its businesses have recorded profit growth in the six months to December.
Da Silva said the group was executing its strategic plan of measured acquisitions that bulked up existing business units or filled gaps in its portfolio to supplement organic growth.
“This also meets our goal of continuing to align our portfolio of businesses and related products and services offerings to serve our blue-chip customer base in niche markets,” he said.
Cross Fire, established in 1990, specialises in the design, supply, fabrication, installation, servicing and maintenance of a range of fire-protection systems. It has operations in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Accra in Ghana.
The company’s customer base spans the construction, retail, logistics and financial services industries.
The acquisition will also enable Jasco to cross-sell the rest of its products to existing blue-chip customers. revenue growth target set from R30m from its Fire Solutions business
set as the minimum revenue target for each business unit