PERTH-BASED e-span Solutions is planning a national expansion under the ownership of education technology provider, Didasko Limited.
PERTH-BASED e-span Solutions is planning a national expansion under the ownership of education technology provider, Didasko Limited.
Under the terms of the deal, which is being finalised this week, Didasko will acquire 51 per cent of e-span from parent company Avanti Group International for $2.6 million, with an option to purchase the remaining 49 per cent in the next 12 months.
e-span, which was bought by Avanti two years ago, has acquired several businesses in the past two years in a bid to round out its capabilities as an information technology and telecommunications provider.
e-span plans to continue its growth through acquisitions and is currently in discussions with potential acquisition targets in the eastern States.
Earlier this year e-span bought Perth iX data centre, which cost $3.6 million to build, from tech-firm-turned-miner Halcyon Group for $1 million.
The terms of the transaction included $500,000 cash up front and the remaining $500,000 to be paid in instalments of $100,000, starting when the data centre’s occupancy reached 30 per cent. Currently, Perth iX is operating at around 10 per cent capacity.
In November 2002, e-span bought Cortel Communications, a company that specialises in wireless broadband solutions. The sale provided e-span with a telecommunications licence and a 155Mb microwave link between Perth and Bunbury.
In July 2003, e-span bought Comtel Services Pty Ltd – a data cabling and telephony service provider.
e-span managing director Wes Medford said the company was undertaking a major acquisition plan that would extend its operations nationally before the end of the year.
Mr Medford said the company’s services would target commercial areas, such as Malaga, where businesses had been unable to access broadband services due to a lack of required telecommunications infrastructure.
He said the company would concentrate on providing technology such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) to commercial entities and government departments, rather than competing with major telecommunications providers in other areas.
Mr Medford said the company had packaged IT&T services with finance options to make it affordable to businesses.
“We began to see this as a great market niche,” he said. “We are working to become a one-stop shop for customers managing their IT and telecommunications requirements.”
