The JSE’s AltX is set to get a new technology listing. 4Sight Holdings, which recently acquired Digitata Mauritius for an undisclosed sum, will head to the AltX in October, the company said.

The holding company, which describes itself as a “pioneer in Industry 4.0 technology”, wants to use the listing to raise as much as R300m, which it plans to use for acquisitions and to develop new products in sectors such as retail and health care.

The company is led by co-founder and CEO Antonie van Rensburg, who said it sees opportunity in the use of “scientific and engineering skills applied cross-functionally with disciplines such as econometrics, medical sciences, bio-informatics and astrophysics”.

The company, through its subsidiaries, earns its income mainly from licensing intelligent algorithms in a “software-as-a-service” annuity revenue model.

4Sight Holdings is incorporated in Mauritius. It acquired Digitata Mauritius on a share-for-share basis in June. Digitata was formed 10 years ago and employs 150 staff. It operates in the telecommunications, media and property services industries, and uses big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and data science, 4Sight said in a statement.

“Its offerings in dynamic tariffing, network services, gamification platforms and community portals indirectly serve more than 60m consumers in 15 countries. The acquisition brings 97% of 4Sight’s revenue in dollar-based income, with South Africa revenue contributing the remaining 3%.”

Digitata has offices in New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and Panama, and sales representatives in Canada, the US, the UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore and a number of African countries including Mauritius and South Africa.

Acquisitions by December

“4Sight plans further expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, seeking profitable businesses with deep data science skills,” it said.

It plans to make new acquisitions by December to offer mining and manufacturing customers the ability to “optimise value chains and plant operations in real time”.

“This includes new AI technology, which can predict physical asset failures up to eight weeks in advance, providing customers with the means to reduce operational downtime,” it said.

“4Sight Holdings’ planned acquisitions will add approximately 150 employees to the fold, bringing the data science and engineering capability to 300 personnel across the world who will be supported by another 200 on-demand specialists through its digital workforce platform.”