JSE-listed technology services group Business Connexion (BCX) has acquired two IT companies elsewhere on the African continent, Panabiz Nigeria and Ultimate Solutions Botswana.
BCX has acquired a 100% stake in both companies, with 1 March as the effective dates of the completion of the deals. Terms have not been disclosed.
Panabiz Nigeria is a managed print services company operating in West Africa and is an established distributor of Canon in the region. BCX will take over inherited contracts, which have “laid a solid foundation of annuity revenue”.
Ultimate Solutions, meanwhile, is a point-of-sale specialist with branches in Gaborone, Maun and Francistown and a retail customer base of over 800 stores across Botswana. It will provide BCX’s retail-focused companies access to the market.
“Where required, BCXwill provide the Botswana retail customer base a migration path to newer technologies available within its stable or via partnerships it holds,” the group says.
Ultimate Solutions distributes brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Mecer in Botswana.
The Panabiz team of 60 staff members will join BCX Nigeria’s 140-member team, while Ultimate Solutions’ 44 employees will also join the group.
“Our Africa footprint allows us to better service our client base who too are expanding into Africa,” says BCX CEO Benjamin Mophatlane.
News of the acquisitions comes less than a week after BCX announced an internal reorganisation meant to help it grow in international markets.
The process included a change in the group’s executive team and the creation of a new group structure.
Mophatlane said the new structure would cluster associated services and improve efficiencies, as well as allow BCX to grow in key regions in Africa and channel talent “more efficiently”. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
