IS buys LayerOne

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 31 Oct 2007

LayerOne CEO Stuart Hardy has sold his 49% shareholding in the company he founded in October 2004 to Internet Solutions (IS) for an undisclosed amount.

"It`s a bit personal, so I don`t want to disclose the amount," Hardy says.

In April, LayerOne said contract revenue had increased by 300% in the first five months of its current financial year. No further financial information was released.

IS acquired a majority stake of 51% in the business in early 2005. With effect from 1 October, it owns all of LayerOne and is merging the former standalone company with its Mobile Solutions business unit.

Hardy says he will stay with the company as MD of the business unit to oversee integration and ensure it is business as usual.

LayerOne focused on providing end-to-end secure mobile solutions to corporates.

Hillel Shrock, director of business solutions at IS, says it makes good strategic sense for IS to own LayerOne in its entirety: "We have a drive to grow in the mobility space and deliver a broader range of focused corporate GSM solutions to our customers.

"There are a number of talented individuals within LayerOne who will assist IS to continue to innovate in the mobile space," Shrock adds. "IS`s customers and their employees increasingly rely on access to their corporate applications and data, wherever they happen to be working. We look forward to taking enhanced mobility solutions to our customers in a very compelling way."

The combined business within IS will focus completely on mobile solutions in the GSM space. This includes the LayerOne traditional business and services, as well as the IS traditional provision of corporate APN solutions aimed primarily at extending companies` networks securely to their mobile users and branches.