Datatec expands its footprint in US

DATATEC, the global information and communications technology solutions firm, will grow its footprint in the US Midwest region.

It announed yesterday that its subsidiary, Logicalis, would acquire Advanced Technology Integration Group (ATIG), a leading technology strategy and integration firm, for $42 million (about R528m).

The deal is effective from September and is the latest buying spree for Logicalis, which bought 100 percent equity in German technology firm, Inforsacom, for $140m in December.

The JSE-listed Datatec Group has an excess of $6 billion in revenue and more than 7 500 employees worldwide operating in over 50 countries.

Its three focus areas include technology, integration and consulting.

Datatec expects the acquisition of ATIG, which posted $133m in revenue for the year to December, to enhance its earnings.

“The acquisition will consolidate Logicalis’ presence in the key Midwest region and present significant cross selling opportunities for its services offering. Its offering is highly complementary to Logicalis,” the company said in a statement.

The ATIG sales and technical resources in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ilionois, Georgia, New York and Oregon are set to be merged into Logicalis in the US.

MCPc was selling ATIG to focus on its end-user computing business, an area where Logicalis did not operate, the company added.

“The acquisition will significantly strengthen Logicalis’ established strengths in data centre, collaboration, cloud and infrastructure,” Vince DeLuca, Logicalis’ president and chief executive, said.

He added that the deal would further augment its expertise in the health-care and SLED vertical solutions, where Logicalis had significant capabilities and proficiencies.

ATIG is focused on a range of services including technology strategy and mentoring and training. It also helps companies to integrate the internet to effectively market themselves, buy and sell goods or services, and manage business operations.

Acquisition

It employs over 100 skilled staff across 14 offices and provides enterprise networking, data centre, unified communications, cloud and managed services solutions to a range of vertical markets including health care, state and local government and education.

“The acquisition is subject to a number of closing conditions and is expected to become effective in September,” the company said.

Analysts have previously said that Datatec’s performance remains relatively in line with the all share index over the last 10 years.

They said the company had indicated that it did not pay enough attention to the users and were too IT focused and internally driven, which was very worrying.

Datatec shares on the JSE increased by 1.53 percent to close at R66.40. The all share added 1.66 percent yesterday.