Business Connexion (BCX), which recently announced a reorganisation, is making good on its plans to expand more into Africa and has bought two companies, one of which is in its target country of Nigeria.
The group, which wants to boost revenue from outside SA, has bought all of Panabiz Nigeria, and 100% of the holding of Ultimate Solutions Botswana. Both deals are with effect from March. It did not disclose the purchase prices.
BCX recently restructured itself to give impetus to its plans to expand further in Africa. Its international operations accounted for R532.3 million of its R6.2 billion revenue for the year to August and BCX wants this to reach 30% in the next few years.
"We're excited about our increasing African footprint and the talent joining Business Connexion. Our Africa footprint allows us to better service our client base who too are expanding into Africa," notes CEO Benjamin Mophatlane.
Panabiz Nigeria is a managed print services (MPS) company that operates in West Africa, distributing Canon in the region. Previously part of Singapore-headquartered Tolaram Group, Panabiz employs 8 000 people globally and has existing MPS and annual maintenance service contracts.
"The two- to three-year inherited contracts have laid a solid foundation of annuity revenue, gearing it for significant growth in the market," says BCX in a statement.
Ultimate Solutions provides point-of-sale solutions in Botswana and has branches in Gaborone, Maun and Francistown, and a retail customer base of more than 800 stores in the country. BCX says the acquisition provides its retail-focused companies access to this market.
The listed group says it will, as needed, migrate the Botswana retail customer base to newer technologies, either from within BCX or its partnerships. "Ultimate Solutions is also a strong distributor of brands such as HP, Lenovo and Mecer, and has the ability to distribute and manage the warrantee process within the Botswana environment," it adds.
The Panabiz team of 60 staff members will join BCX Nigeria's 140-member team based in Lagos while Ultimate Solution's 44 staff members will also join the group.
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