ASX-listed telecoms firm buys cloud reseller

ASX-listed telecoms company Stratatel is going after the cloud-computing market with the acquisition of JCurve solutions.

The acquisition, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, will see Stratatel take the JCurve Solutions name.

The deal will also see Stratatel chairman Graham Baillie step down as chairman of the board at the company's annual general meeting to take on the role as managing director for an initial period of two years.

Meanwhile, 30-year consumer electronics veteran Nihal Gupta will be appointed chairman, while Michael Fairclough and Ian Macliver are expected to retire shortly after the AGM.

The takeover adds the NetSuite enterprise resource planning (ERP) range to Stratatel's offer.

JCurve currently holds the exclusive rights to sell a small business version of NetSuite under its own brand in Australia and New Zealand.

The acquisition backs up claims made in Stratatel's full-year annual report, in which it flagged the opportunities of the "cloud computing phenomenon" and said it was "currently looking for other suitable assets to acquire that will align with the company’s future vision".

Baillie said the acquisition would accelerate growth: "The combination of JCurve and Stratatel delivers the momentum required to fully realise the identified potential to capture the Australian market with cutting-edge, cloud-based business software solutions."

The company's own telecommunications expense management solutions, FleetManager, will undergo a $750,000 redevelopment and will be rebranded JTel to help it assimilate with JCurve's range.

The JCurve acquisition will be completed by the end of November 2013.

Stratatel posted its full-year results to the ASX on 30 August, showing mixed fortunes.

Revenue dipped 7 percent to $10.1 million, but earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (EBITDA) surged 899 percent from $107,469 to $1.1 million.

However, it saw a full-year net loss of $3.1 million, 55 percent worse than the year previous.

The company’s Professional Services division performed in line with budget and is preparing itself for increasing its activities in the cloud computing phenomenon.

The principal activities of the company during the year were the development and marketing of Telecommunications Expense Management Solutions (FleetManager®) and Professional Services Consulting, specifically dealing with IBM products and the emerging cloud computing platform.

In addition, the company is currently looking for other suitable assets to acquire that will align with the company’s future vision.