Datatec acquires Biodata

The acquisition forms part of the group's strategy to expand its South African networking, convergence, security and mobility distribution business. The inclusion of Biodata's strong vendor portfolio and its existing reseller and customer base to the Westcon security portfolio will significantly bolster the company's security offerings.

"To date there has been a void in our security portfolio for our resellers, which we believe the incorporation of the focussed Biodata security vendor suite will now fill," said Jacques Malherbe, CEO of Westcon SA. "In addition, Biodata was particularly appealing to Westcon because of its clean distribution model, in which it works only with its resellers and does in no way approach the customer directly, mirroring that of our own model."

An autonomous business

As per the acquisition, Biodata will be merged into the Westcon SA business' security portfolio and MD of Biodata, Jan de Lange, will assume the role of MD of Westcon Security. The business unit will emulate the existing Westcon business model and will be managed as an autonomous business within the group portfolio.

"Merging with Westcon will enable us to offer our existing resellers and their customers an enhanced product range and access to a wider skills set and portfolio offering, allowing them to meet their security and compliance needs better," said De Lange. "Our customers will now also be able to take advantage of Westcon's strong BEE credentials and be able to draw from the experiences and references of a larger customer base.

"The acquisition comes at a time when we are seeing growing demand amongst our customers for solutions that will enable them to meet, reach and exceed their security needs more effectively, with particular reference to the ECT Act, the impending Personal Protection of Information Act, as well as the governance laws within King III," he added.

No restructuring

According to Malherbe, the Biodata business will not be restructured in any way; all existing skills will be incorporated into the business and there will be no shedding of staff.

"Biodata is a highly profitable going concern that fits in perfectly with our business; there is nothing we need to rebuild and, once we have co-ordinated our product and resellers, we will hit the ground running from day one," he said.

"As a result of the current economic turnaround in the market, the management of Westcon is optimistic with regards to the business prospects availing themselves in the market. Should we see synergies and value from these prospects, we will not hesitate to pursue an expansion trail, such as we have with Biodata," Malherbe ended.