DDLS acquires Brisbane Microsoft training firm Nexacu for $19 million

Corporate IT training company DDLS has acquired Brisbane-headquartered Nexacu for $19.1 million.

Nexacu specialises in instructor-led Microsoft application training for end-users and has campuses in major Australian cities. Its customers include government, education and commercial organisations and the company trains some 13,000 students per year.

The company was established in 2013 as Excel Consulting, to help businesses develop and automate Microsoft Excel models. Its course topics now range from Microsoft Power BI to Microsoft Power Platform App Maker, Python and SQL.

DDLS said the acquisition would allow it to bolt on Nexacu’s portfolio of end-user courses to its enterprise sales infrastructure, and boost its training pool to more than 30,000 students per year.

DDLS chief executive Jon Lang talked up the acquisition as a “perfect union in terms of market adjacency and expansion. We both provide live, instructor-led, digital skills training, with DDLS focusing on technical courses for IT professionals, and Nexacu end-user apps courses,” Lang stated.

“Given our growing portfolio of digital products and flexible delivery modalities there will be some great opportunities to continue building out this capability with Nexacu’s product suite.”

The Nexacu acquisition follows DDLS’s $16.6 million acquisition of Auldhouse last year and the DDLS acquisition of Australian Institute of ICT in 2018. The company’s other business units include strategic and advisory services arms DDLS People and DDLS Philippines.

Nexacu’s former owner Paul Panebianco stated that he was “delighted that Nexacu has joined the DDLS family, becoming part of the leading digital skills provider in the APAC region. There will be some great benefits for our customers and employees with opportunities to leverage synergies across sales, marketing and product, in addition to their world-class facilities.”

“By combining our expertise, we will create stronger, more impactful training options for both organisations and skilled workers across APAC. Both [Nexacu COO] Anita [Panebianco] and I couldn't be more excited about what lies ahead for Nexacu, our customers and employees.”