UXC acquires eOne

Australian technology services company, UXC finalised the purchase of eOne Integrated Business Solutions Group (eOne), a provider of software services and solutions based on the Microsoft Business Great Plains product in A\NZ.

The initial acquisition will be payable in a combination of cash and shares on a deferred basis, and will be immediately earnings per share positive.

Cris Nicolli UXC CEO of business solution group said the acquisition of eOne enabled UXC gain entry into the NZ marketplace.

“EOne will immediately merge with UXC’s existing Great Plains specialist business Eclipse Computing, which is part of UXC’s Business Solutions Group,” said Nicolli.

The combined business unit would have a team of approximately 37 Great Plains specialists servicing about 220 medium to large organisations in Australia and New Zealand. This increased the total Eclipse customer base using Microsoft Business Solutions to around 350.

EOne’s co-founder, Simon Butler would continue in an executive management role and would report to Eclipse CEO Bradley Stoop. All current eOne staff would also remain, said Lord.

As well as providing services and solutions around Great Plains, eOne implements Microsoft and SalesLogix CRM solutions, and the iTouch wireless product set. EOne also has distribution rights for proprietary products which extend Great Plains functionality.

EOne’s product business will also continue to operate as a provider of Dynamics GP add-ons to Microsoft. Butler will remain as CEO of that entity.

UXC will enjoy various distribution rights to eOne’s Dynamic GP add-ons, however the IP will remain with the eOne product company, Lord said.

This is the third acquisition in UXC’s US$20 million investment plan in A/NZ, he said. Other acquisitions undertaken include the purchase of New Zealand SAP services company, Oxygen, in December 2005 and Canberra based ICT services provider BCT Group in March 2006.

Nicolli said the recent acquisitions were going well.

"We've grown the Oxygen from 150 to 180 and BCT employees have gone from 22 to 28 employees. This was only in the past five months," he said.