Adapt IT looks outside SA

Diversifying in difficult times is the way to maintain momentum, says chief executive

JSE-LISTED ICT company Adapt IT has cast its eyes outside South Africa to realise its growth potential as the country struggles with low economic growth.

Chief executive Sbu Shabalala says diversifying in these difficult times is the best way for the group to maintain its growth momentum.

“The market has been tough in South Africa and we have looked beyond our borders for opportunities, to markets where growth is better than ours.

“We see the potential in East Africa and we have entered the markets in Kenya and in the West with Nigeria.

“There is definitely a market for our software and there is a huge demand,” Shabalala said.

Adapt IT announced the acquisition of the Conor Group in a transaction worth R80million to strengthen the Adapt IT Telecoms solutions division at the beginning of the week.

“This acquisition is important for the group and it is a business that has been doing well in the telecoms space. It has groundbreaking technology in the area of financial technology.

“So we decided to acquire an already successful business instead of building our own from scratch,” Shabalala said.

Conor was founded in 2007 and employs 60 professionals. It provides high-performance telephone company and mobile financial service solutions, covering areas such as the core network applications, enterprise mobility, big data and analytics, and mobile payments to the telecommunications industry in 10 countries across Africa and South America. Shabalala added that the business gave Adapt IT footprints in other geographies where the group was not represented.

The acquisition of Conor improved Adapt IT’S revenue and geographic diversification as the Conor customer base creates cross-selling opportunities in local and foreign markets for the Adapt IT telecommunications software solutions. “The Adapt IT telecommunications division solution offering is strengthened by the Conor acquisition with our customers benefiting from the technology synergies leveraged through this transaction, enhancing opportunities to enable our customers to achieve more,” Shabalala said.

Adapt IT is a leading software provider to the education, manufacturing, energy, financial services and hospitality sectors, servicing more than 10000 customers in 40 countries.

The group has more than 1000 software engineers.