Dimension Data Buys Communications Provider NextiraOne

Dimension Data, a $5.8 billion Johannesburg, South Africa-based company, has bought NextiraOne, a large, 12-year-old European communications services provider sporting a customer list of some 43,000 in the public and private sectors.

Neither party disclosed terms of the transaction. Dimension said the deal will be done in two phases with the initial stage involving its acquisition of NextiraOne’s businesses in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. In a second wave slated for mid-2015, Dimension will absorb NextiraOne’s businesses in France and Italy based on performance conditions both companies kept private.

The deal boosts Dimension’s European operations from 10 to 16 countries, officials said. NextiraOne maintains relationships with about 100 service providers in Europe but no mention was made by either company whether Dimension will continue with those setups.

Dimension, which said it will keep NextiraOne’s 1,850 permanent employee roster intact—including about 1,000 technical personnel—said its its new acquisition will take on the parent company’s brand in the next three months. David Winn, NextiraOne president and chief executive, will stay on to run the company’s France and Italy operations and to serve as an adviser to Dimension on customer and vendor engagements. Andrew Coulsen, Dimension Europe chief executive, will shepherd NextiraOne’s assimilation into the fold.

Brett Dawson, Dimension chief executive, said the NextiraOne deal affords it new markets and customers as well as an expansion of its communications business.

“Last year, the Group announced that it will double its revenue over the next five years, from $6 billion to $12 billion,” he said. “We tripled our business in the last 10 years, and now we’re looking to double it through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. The purchase of NextiraOne is the first major step on this five-year journey. With this transaction, Dimension Data will enter new market segments, grow our client base, and add 1,850 talented employees with great skills to the Dimension Data family. It also provides us with the opportunity to expand into the middle market.”

Dawson said NextiraOne’s unified communications and collaboration business gives Dimension the “ability to manage communications infrastructures across multiple platforms,” and adds to the company’s strategy to leverage its entire portfolio to customers in the SMB, commercial, public sector and enterprise markets.

In 2006, NextiraOne was bought in a private equity deal by ABN AMRO Capital France, now ABÉNEX Capital. Members of the European management team of NextiraOne are also shareholders in the business.

On its web site, NextiraOne claims some 3,850 employees—it is unclear if Dimension is absorbing only those considered permanent personnel or if the remainder will be let go.