Belfast-based Aepona has just completed a merger with Swedish company Appium. The new entity will operate from Belfast under the Aepona name.
The new company will be the largest independent vendor in service delivery platforms, a telecoms market estimated to be worth US$1.4bn with a value of US$3.2bn forecast by 2011.
Appium’s headquarters in Sweden will serve as a regional office as well as a development centre.
In February of this year Aepona raised US$10m in venture capital from Amadeus Capital Partners, Polaris Ventures and Trinity Venture Capital. It plans to increase its workforce in Belfast from 120 to 200 over the next two years.
The decision for the company’s merger with Appium was based on their similar market offering as well as several joint contracts that they had undertaken.
Aepona, which landed a web services deal in February with US$8.5bn Canadian telecoms company Telus, together with Appium now have a blue chip clientele of BT, France Telecom/Orange Group and Sprint.
Gilbert Little, chairman of Aepona’s board of directors, said: “Service providers globally are set to invest heavily in the service delivery platform market to satisfy the demand for rich, converged consumer and enterprise services.
“The two companies have complementary products, customers and channels to market and the combined entity has the scale, intellectual assets and sales and marketing fire-power to fully capitalise on this exciting opportunity.”
Jean-Charles Doineau of research company Ovum observed that there is now a real opportunity for independent companies operating in the service platform sector and that both Aepona and Appium are leading examples in the marketplace.
By Marie Boran
