An overview of the week in deals in the Irish and global technology sector.
AIB signs five-year Ireland, NI and UK data comms deal with Eircom
AIB has signed a five-year deal with Eircom in which the telecoms provider will upgrade and replace AIB’s data networks and voice systems across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
Over the course of the contract, Eircom will deliver a portfolio of services to AIB, including a 300 site next-generation network for delivery of data, voice and video solutions across the three locations.
AIB says the new network will be a key enabler for innovative changes planned by the bank in the coming years.
This involves the deployment of a next-generation telecoms network to provide a foundation for the ‘OneAIB’ transformation programme.
Work has already begun on this upgrade which will boost capacity, speed and flexibility in AIB systems across the branch network in the Republic, UK and Northern Ireland.
The upgrade is planned to be completed by October.
SSE to acquire NI’s Phoenix Supply in stg£19.1m deal
SSE is planning to acquire Northern Irish gas supplier Phoenix Supply in a deal worth stg£19.1m. The acquisition, if it goes ahead, will make Airtricity, SSE’s retail supply brand, Northern Ireland’s second-largest energy provider and the third-largest energy provider on the island of Ireland, the company claimed.
Phoenix Supply is the regulated supplier of natural gas to around 130,000 domestic and business customers in the greater Belfast area. SSE said the total cash consideration is stg£19.1m, with this excluding working capital-related adjustments.
SSE said its retail supply brand Airtricity will now become Northern Ireland’s second-largest energy supplier and a dual fuel provider of gas and electricity to more than 230,000 customers.
“This is a significant step forward for both Airtricity and Phoenix Supply as we seek to become the largest supplier of both electricity and natural gas in Northern Ireland,” said Kevin Greenhorn, SSE’s director of Business Supply, Contracting and International and CEO of Airtricity.
Dublin disaster recovery firm Network Recovery acquires Barlan
Dublin-based cloud and disaster recovery firm Network Recovery, of which Digicel founder Denis O’Brien is a shareholder, has acquired the entire share capital of Barlan, an IT managed services and bespoke software provider.
Barlan will now trade under the Network Recovery name and brand.
Acquired employees from Barlan will join Network Recovery’s disaster recovery centre at Baldonnell Business Park in Dublin 22, bringing the number of its employees to 26.
Barlan’s acquired employees will specialise in the deployment of IT voice and data solutions, bespoke software and project management, said Network Recovery’s managing director Paul Lynch.
MBO at Maxima Ireland, becomes part of Zinopy
Virtualisation and cloud computing firm Maxima Ireland’s management team has led a management buyout of the company in a deal supported by security firm Zinopy. Maxima Ireland will trade under the Zinopy brand.
Maxima’s Aidan McEvoy and Brendan Matthews will assume the roles of sales director and operations director respectively, joining John Ryan, CEO, and Ger Coakley, finance director, on the Zinopy Board.
The two divisions of Zinopy will continue to focus on their core competencies, one focused on virtualisation and cloud computing and one focused on security.
“This transaction gives us significant scale in the Irish market and positions the combined entity competitively in two of the fastest-growing IT sectors in Ireland – virtualisation/cloud computing and security,” Ryan said.
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