Deals done this past week


8 Nov 2010

An overview of the week in deals in the Irish technology sector.

Ergo acquires CDSoft for ‘seven-figure sum’

The consolidation of Ireland’s leading IT companies continues with the latest acquisition of CDSoft by Ergo. According to sources, CDSoft was acquired for a seven-figure sum.

Ergo has built up a multi-million euro business in the IT services space and in recent weeks the established IT firm raised €3m in venture capital and will create 33 new jobs as its Fenergo financial software business goes global. Fenergo – derived from the Latin “to lend” – has raised €2m in funding from Enterprise Ireland and the European Investment Bank to internationalise the product that helps financial operators like banks and building societies reduce their exposure to risk.

Some 34 CDSoft staff will relocate to Ergo’s East Point head office in Dublin, expanding Ergo’s infrastructure practice with a stronger focus on network services and virtualisation.

Synergies with CDSoft are expected to contribute at least 20pc to Ergo revenues in the first year, bringing the total revenue for the group to €30m. As a joint entity, the enlarged company will account for 35pc of Microsoft’s virtualisation business in Ireland.

Cork firm GlobeTech secures €2.2m Abu Dhabi deal

Cork-based parking solutions company GlobeTech Ltd has secured a contract worth €2.2m with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport.

The contract is the second that GlobeTech has secured with the DoT’s parking authority Mawaqif as part of its new parking management project for Abu Dhabi.

Some 71,000 on-street and off-street parking spaces are managed under the project, making it the largest parking project in the world.

The announcement was made during the Enterprise Ireland trade mission to the Middle East, led by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe TD.

The DoT set up Mawaqif to provide a world-class central parking management system in the capital of the UAE and resolve the growing problem of congestion and parking in the city.

PFH buys Redstone Technology for €2.5m

ICT provider PFH has acquired leading enterprise solutions firm RedStone Technology for €2.5m. The combined entity will employ 235 people and report annual revenues in excess of €55m.

Redstone Technology is Ireland’s leading provider of high-end enterprise storage and server solutions to blue-chip public and private sector clients.

Redstone Technology, which was founded in the early 1990s and employs 55 people based in Dublin and other locations around the country, is regarded as the leading provider of business critical IT solutions in Ireland.

The acquisition of Redstone Technology follows a strategic decision by its parent company Redstone plc to reorganise its business and focus on the UK market.

PFH is Ireland’s largest independent information and communication technology (ICT) group and is also the country’s largest privately-owned single-source provider of voice, data and managed services solutions.

The company, which is headquartered in Dublin and has offices in Cork, Limerick and Galway, serves blue-chip customers across pharmaceutical, banking, manufacturing, government, education and health sectors.

Dell adds to the cloud with Boomi acquisition

Dell has announced it has acquired SaaS integration company Boomi for its cloud computing portfolio for an undisclosed amount.

Boomi offers a SaaS application integration platform that reduces the cost and complexity of integrating apps by allowing transfer of data between cloud apps and on-premise apps without the need for coding or software.

Bank of Ireland IT outsourcing contract goes to IBM

A major IT contract that had been managed by HP is to be moved to IBM following the expiry of the previous contract.

Bank of Ireland and IBM have announced they have signed a five-year contract for the future provision of the bank’s IT infrastructure services.

Following a competitive bid process with a number of parties, IBM was selected for exclusive contract negotiations in July of this year. During the intervening period, an extensive due diligence phase was undertaken and relevant regulatory approval granted.

IBM will manage the bank’s entire IT infrastructure, including desktop systems, servers, mainframes, local area networks and service desk.

New mobile operator awards lucrative contract to Mayo firm

Eight new jobs are to be created after new MVNO Just Mobile awarded its customer service contract to Castlebar-based customer experience solutions company Kaptec.

As part of the agreement, Kaptec will provide support, 8am until 8pm, seven days a week to Just Mobile customers nationwide.

Initially, the contract will create eight jobs at Kaptec’s customer service centre in Castlebar, Co Mayo, with this number set to increase over time in line with the growth of Just Mobile’s customer base.