Independent Irish voice and data company, Calyx is embarking on an acquisition trail that has already picked up Moss Technology for a sum in excess of EUR5m.
Maurice Healy, owner of Calyx, concluded the terms of the sale with Moss Technology on July 1st following a number of weeks of negotiations. An element of the all-cash EUR5m deal will be deferred, Healy said.
Although news of the acquisition will not surprise observers of the ICT scene at a time when consolidation is rife, the two companies managed to keep their pre-merger discussions under wraps in an industry notorious for news leaks.
‘This is a first step in the consolidation of the industry at a very difficult time,’ said Healy. ‘While most companies are looking to survive we are looking to thrive and we have redesigned our whole approach to the market.’
Calyx says it intends to make further acquisitions in both the Irish and UK markets. ‘Informal discussions have already taken place with a number of new and established companies,’ the firm said.
Moss Technology specialises in the support, maintenance and installation of wide and local area networks in Dublin and Cork. It has already moved to the Calyx headquarters at the North Ring Business Park in Santry, Dublin and Moss managing director, Ken Roe will take a key role in the group.
Calyx comprises a group of four companies all led by former ITG boss Maurice Healy: Calyx Data, Calyx Training, Calyx Voice and Calyx Bespoke, a newly formed venture that specialises in consultancy and project management. Healy formed the company as a new entity after leading a EUR12m management buyout of the technology services arm of ITG (now named Alphyra) in December 2001. This arm comprised ITG Computers, ITG Telecoms, Addex and WorkStations Training.
Moss, which employs some 56 people, will be merging with Calyx Data, by far the largest company within the group. Healy told ComputerScope that the aim of the deal was to boost Calyx’s profile in its current market rather than diversify into others. He also said the business and customer profiles of both firms are ‘identical’, so there was likely to be some rationalisation, including some job cuts ‘although this has not yet been quantified’.
However, ComputerScope has learned that some staff and customers on the Moss Technology side are unhappy about the move, believing that Calyx will neglect the services side of the business (see story below). ComputerScope has also learned that a number of staff from Moss Technologies have already been made redundant since the merger was announced a few weeks ago.
Calyx currently generates annual revenues of EUR47m (EUR38m of that comes from Calyx Data), while Moss Technology turns over approximately EUR10m a year. Healy said he expects revenues in the new group to top EUR60m within the next year and employ over 200 people. Calyx currently employs 156.
Calyx and Moss had actually held discussions over a possible merger during the summer of last year, but it was decided not to proceed because of a number of timing issues, Healy told ComputerScope. Martin Ryan, who was sales director of Moss Technology, passed away around this time last year.
12/09/2003
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