Calibre One acquired by Brisbane-based Azentro Group

Brisbane-based telephony, UC and mobility specialist Azentro Group has acquired Adelaide-based Calibre One for an undisclosed sum.

The move will bring some 110 employees together across offices in Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, while also combining some $35 million in joint sales last year.

Azentro and Calibre One will bring together expertise in unified communications, IT managed services, telematics and IoT, connectivity and mobility, cloud and cybersecurity. Vendor partners include Telstra, Microsoft, Teletrac Navman, Mitel, Cisco, Genesys and Fortinet.

Azentro chief executive Paul Bouris said the two companies “realised they had to get big or get out”, saying that organic growth alone was unsustainable, with lower margins and higher overheads driving the Australian IT channel towards consolidation.

“The value of the combined business is much greater than Azentro and Calibre One each would have delivered on their own,” Bouris said.

Bouris added that the combined entity’s joint skills, scale and reach would position itself to address underserved and underappreciated customers in markets outside the Sydney to Melbourne nexus.

“Our model provides our customers significantly more value and ensures our people have long-term job security,” Bouris said.

Calibre One chief executive and general manager Darren Gore will work closely with Bouris to lead the combined group.

Gore said the group is poised for growth as one of the largest Telstra partners outside of Sydney and Melbourne.

“What’s exciting is we now have the location, customers, people on the ground, infrastructure and relationships with vendors and customers to grow significant unified communications and IT managed services offerings in Queensland,” Gore said.

“And together we are a stronger, more capable and diverse organisation with significant opportunities for our people as we grow.”

Azentro Group chairman Bob Bishop said the merger culminated years of mutual respect, compatible cultures and shared vision for customer experience between the two businesses.

“Darren and Paul have long associated through the Telstra Advisory Board, which facilitated their development of a shared and aligned vision. We expect to be more profitable and grow significantly in the years ahead,” Bishop said