JSE-listed SilverBridge has bought lending software solutions company Acczone, for an undisclosed amount.
The deal is in line with its plans to grow through acquisitions. SilverBridge, which issued a cautionary in October, said at the time that it was keen to grow by buying out another company.
It now consists of SDT, an insurance software solutions provider; Ones & Zeros, a banking solutions implementer; and Acczone, along with GrayTech, the implementation arm of Acczone. SilverBridge acquired 51% of Ones & Zeros on 1 July last year, for R12.3 million.
CEO Jaco Swanepoel says: “Acczone's solutions are a very good fit for our existing product offering.”
He explains that the acquisition enhances the company's current suite of offerings, making it more complete, and allowing it to cross-sell across its range of products.
“SDT specialises in insurance software solutions, and with insurers offering loans to policyholders, many of its clients will be candidates for Acczone's solutions, which focus on interest-bearing assets and debt administration,” he explains.
Adding to profit
Swanepoel says the acquisition will be earnings enhancing for SilverBridge. In the half-year to August, SilverBridge grew revenue 71%, to R51 million, and bolstered net profit 143%, to R6.2 million.
“Both parties will benefit significantly; Acczone will have the additional credibility of SilverBridge behind them; we will take them into markets they have not accessed before; and they will add significant revenue and profit to the group,” says Swanepoel.
Acczone was founded in 1998 and its offerings have been installed at more than 50 sites in 11 countries in Africa, with the bulk of its clients in SA. It aims to market its solutions worldwide.
Expansion opportunities
CEO Ben Pieters says Acczone will “gain significantly from the acquisition". “It provides us with the funding we need to migrate our solution from Borland Delphi to Microsoft .NET, which is what our clients are asking for.
“This will pave the way for a completely new architecture, taking us from client/server to Web services, the potential for offering our solutions in a hosted environment, and software as a service. It will also allow us to target financial services providers in North America.”
Pieters says the first focus is to get the software onto a Web-based platform in the next year to 18 months. Once that is done, he says, it aims to expand into the US, Canada and Australia. It has already received interest from companies in those countries.
Acczone's 18 software modules address a range of financial services requirements, including asset portfolio management, marketing, cash flow, support, back-office management and financials. It has about 40% of the market in SA and southern Africa.
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