Cape Town, 19 Jul 2007
Independent telecommunications company Storm has developed an appetite for acquisitions, but still sees a lot of organic growth potential, says new CEO Willem van Rensburg.
Van Rensburg, 47, has been in his new job for one month and one week. This is after a 17-year career at Business Connexion that culminated in him being the group executive responsible for strategy.
He describes his move from near the top rung of a R1.7 billion company to one of the smallest telecoms service providers as "refreshing", as it does not have the baggage that a large corporation usually has.
"It is far easier for Storm`s board to implement a new strategy. In fact, it can do so within a day rather than the lengthy process that a large organisation has to experience."
Van Rensburg says Storm has developed an appetite for acquisitions, as it has to look for new ways to expand. The company has traditionally relied on organic growth after it first started as a call-back service, then moved into least-cost routing. It now offers voice over IP (VOIP) services.
Sorting out skeletons
"However, we won`t go the revenue stream route; rather we will look at acquisitions that are located within niche areas that add to Storm`s competency. I have experienced too many bad situations with purchases based on revenue streams, because often there are skeletons hidden in the closets and it takes time to sort them out," he says.
Van Rensburg is aware that Storm is probably the only independent telecoms company left in this particular space, after a spate of acquisitions saw many of its competitors snapped up by larger companies.
"The intellectual capital of Storm is quite phenomenal. It has made VOIP work and, while there is still room for improvement, our biggest differentiator is the quality of service it offers."
Storm plans to stay within the virtual telecoms space, renting or leasing network services from other companies and bundling them into offerings for its clients.
Van Rensburg says: "We would rather own the customer than the infrastructure."
Storm`s decision to appoint Van Rensburg as CEO shows a change in the way the company is structured. Previously, founders Tim Wyatt-Gunning and Tim Parsonson had kept management control. However, Van Rensburg says that, as the company has grown in size, it needs to put in stronger governance structures and this is why his position was created.
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