Telstra Purple, the telecommunication giant’s business technology services offshoot, is acquiring two local tech startups to bolster its IoT capabilities.
The deals include Aqura Technologies, a subsidiary of ASX-listed Veris, snapped up for $30 million – figure that nearly matches the parent company’s market cap.
Aqura supplies tech and telecommunications infrastructure solutions including industrial wireless, unified communications and industrial IoT, with a focus on the mining and agriculture sectors. It has more than 90 staff across Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne as well as a fly-in-fly-out workforce to service the nation.
The other acquisition in Brisbane-based Alliance Automation, one of country’s largest independent providers of IoT industrial automation solutions and control systems. Founded in 2010, the business provides services in technical advisory and design, electrical and automation engineering, project management, site installation, business intelligence, operational technology cyber security.
Head of Telstra Purple, Christopher Smith, said that the two acquisitions enhance the company’s presence across mining, energy, oil and gas, utilities and defence projects, and increase its automation and digital transformation engagements.
“As our 10th and 11th acquisitions, Alliance Automation and Aqura Technologies will accelerate Telstra Purple’s growth, particularly in IoT, cloud and security, across key industry verticals, which are important building blocks of our T25 strategy,” he said.
“Both companies have demonstrated consistent historical growth, close customer and vendor relationships, backed up by a deep pool of specialist talent with a strong pipeline and growth outlook. We were impressed by their people, expertise and capabilities and believe they will be very valuable additions to the Telstra Purple team.”
Alliance Automation CEO Matthew Griffiths said it was a chance to take the company to the next level.
“The opportunities that arise out of our complementary capabilities, but shared customer and employee centric services base will enable us to jointly provide world class digital transformation strategies to improve operational efficiencies for all our customers,” he said.
“Joining Telstra Purple will provide unparalleled value propositions for both our employees and our customers, taking Alliance Automation to the next level of technical capability and accelerating our push toward Industry 4.0 excellence for all of our customers.
Aqura Technologies CEO Travis Young said his team is excited about the opportunities that the merger brings.
“Our specialist capabilities, coupled with the highly complementary service offerings of the broader Telstra Purple family will deliver more powerful and compelling solutions,” he said.
“We can now more rapidly accelerate our growth to meet the significant demand of organisations who are looking to leverage next-generation connectivity as part of their broader digitisation strategies.”
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