SOUTH AFRICA – Johannesburg based information and communication firm Datatec Group, through its subsidiary – Logicalis SA – has acquired Mars Technologies, an information technology (IT) services business, for an undisclosed amount.
Logicalis SA is a division of the Logicalis Group, the international IT solutions and managed services provider as part one of the three divisions under Datatec, which also include Westcon International and consulting and financial services divisions.
Logicalis Group has footprints across the globe with operations in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa while Mars Technologies has offices across South Africa in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and East London.
The acquisition of Mars Technologies by Logicalis SA follows the acquisition of IP telephony cloud and managed services business Clarotech, based in Cape Town, in September last year.
Datatec said the acquisition of Mars Technologies is part of an ongoing strategy to augment its existing solutions and services business in South Africa and extending its services capabilities to its enterprise customers.
The IT group said that as the deal will also enable it extend its services to other Logicalis customers around the globe through its managed services centre of excellence.
Mark Rogers, Logicalis Group chief executive, said the acquisition enabled them to extend their footprint across South Africa, serve their corporate customers and up-sell new services to existing customers from both companies.
“We also gain considerable knowledge of the industry from the Mars’ executive team, which, combined with our local standing expertise, enhances the value that we deliver to the market,” Rogers said.
Mars Technologies, with a staff complement of 76 people, delivers managed IT services ranging from remote monitoring of networks and servers, managed desktop, anti-virus, cloud backup, and printers, to full outsourcing, targeting small and mid-market enterprises.
The group said software solutions and application development also complement the services offering.
Datatec chief executive Jens Montanana said: “With the acquisition, the Logicalis South African operation strengthens and expands its managed services offering to better serve our corporate customers and deliver new services to existing customers from both companies.”
The Logicalis Group’s revenue was up by 11.3 percent to US$1.7billion (R24.08bn) while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 8.4 percent to US$93.4million.
