Tesserent to acquire Melbourne's Asta Solutions for $3.8 million

ASX-listed managed security specialist Tesserent is set to acquire Melbourne-based managed services provider Asta Solutions for $3.8 million.

Asta will bring 200 clients and 85 staff from Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland into Tesserent’s fold, as well as skills in cloud technologies, managed services, and blockchain application development.

“We are thrilled to join the Tesserent team. Security has been a missing piece from our strategic vision,” Asta Solutions chief executive Bill Angelidis said.

“I feel like this is a 20-year dream come true, and am excited about what we will achieve together!”

The two companies struck a partnership in November 2017 as part of Tesserent’s efforts to expand into secure managed networks. It was from there the specialist saw great potential in gaining the skills Asta had on hand.

“This is an important step forward for Tesserent,” Tesserent founder and chief technology officer Keith Glennan said.

“Having worked with Bill and his team since last year, we are confident that this transaction will result in a business that is uniquely placed in the market and will generate significant long-term value for our clients and shareholders.”

Asta is a Microsoft partner offering managed services, cloud, business consulting, mobile app development and web and software development. The company was established in 1999.

In 2016, it acquired Melbourne-based Apple enterprise partner Crunch IT, bringing Apple and Microsoft enterprise services under the same roof.

In the same year, Tesserent became the first cybersecurity firm to IPO in Australia. Its vendor partners include Cisco's Sourcefire and Kaspersky.

Earlier this year, it struck a deal with Leading Edge Computers to offer its CyberBiz managed security offering to 130 member stores across Australia, joining the likes of Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Samsung, LG, Fujitsu and Apple in the buying group's vendor ecosystem.