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US-headquartered data erasure firm Blancco has snapped up Inhance Technology in a bid to expand the Cork firm’s services globally.
Following on from its appearance at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Cork’s Inhance Technology has been snapped up in a multimillion-euro deal. In a statement, data erasure and mobile device diagnostics firm Blancco announced it was to acquire YouGetBack Limited, trading as Inhance Technology.
Founded in 2005, Inhance Technology made its name as a specialist in remote mobile device diagnostics and content transfer and at the time of sale had 18 staff. Its partners include tier-one original equipment manufacturers, insurance providers, retailers, financial institutions, and some of the largest device logistics companies in the world.
The deal is estimated to have been worth €5.25m. Blancco said the acquisition will help strengthen its existing retail capability and further improve its ability to offer full-service mobile device buyback and trade-in programmes as well as device insurance policies.
It added that it now wants to leverage Inhance Technology’s expertise and customer base to carve out new market opportunities.
Good for Cork
“We are very excited to be part of Blancco’s organisation,” said William Fitzgerald, CEO of Inhance Technology.
“This is a really good outcome for our dedicated team here at Inhance and for the Cork region in general. The combined business is in a unique position to offer a very broad range of solutions to the market, and we look forward to the additional growth that this acquisition will bring.”
With its headquarters in Texas, Blancco has a number of offices around the globe including places such as Finland, the UK and India. It made headlines in April after it revealed that a significant number of hard drives purchased on eBay contained dangerous amounts of sensitive data.
Good deal for Inhance
Blancco CEO Matt Jones said of the acquisition: “Inhance Technology enables us to intuitively enhance the user experience for consumers looking to securely realise financial value from their old devices at the point of upgrade.
“We are very excited to be able to combine our collective strengths to deliver a highly robust end-to-end capability that will bring significant competitive advantage to our customers and prospects.”
Meanwhile, Martin Courtney, a principal analyst for TechMarketView, believes it was a good deal for the Cork company.
“After seeing its reported revenue decline 14pc year-on-year to €1.2m in its last financial year, Inhance should benefit from the wider global reach Blancco can provide and deliver upselling opportunities for existing Blancco customers.”
