Less than a month after its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Field Solutions Holdings (ASX:FSG) has made its first acquisition as a public company.
Field Solutions provides private cloud hosting services and generic cloud hosting services, drawing upon its own nationwide IP network, and counts Microsoft, Oracle and VMware among its partners.
The cloud and telecommunications services provider told shareholders on 1 June that it had struck a deal to acquire enterprise wireless network services provider, BMS Network Solutions, in a bid to bulk up its regional credentials.
BMS Network Solutions provides enterprise, carrier-class wireless network design, construction and management services, predominantly in rural and regional Australia.
Under the terms of the deal, BMS will be acquired on a cash-free, debt-free basis. However, a consideration of $185,000 will be attached to the deal in the form of cash and script, based on achieving revenue targets over a three-year period.
BMS Network Solutions is expected contribute nearly $1 million in revenue in the 2018 financial year, after synergies, according to Field Solutions.
Strategically, BMS is expected to bring its existing customer base into the Field Solutions fold, with the company claiming both local government organisations and a few top tier commercial customers in its portfolio.
According to Field Solutions Group, BMS has a number of key customers, including Rio Tinto, Toowoomba Regional Council, Townsville City Council and Cairns Regional Council.
For Field Solutions Group’s CEO, Andrew Roberts, the move to take on BMS Network Solutions is all about bolstering the company’s regional and rural standing.
“The integration of BMS augments FSG’s capability to design, deploy and manage broadband solutions for customers in rural and regional Australia,” Roberts told shareholders.
“Our focus to deliver not only smart rural cities but also smart rural agribusinesses, will ultimately rely on a combination of wireless and fibre technologies,” he said.
The deal will see BMS managing director, Brook Sneddon, join FSG in its carrier services division. Sneddon’s LinkedIn profile indicates that he has identified professionally as a Field Solutions Group solutions architect since at least April this year.
“FSG’s focus on rural and regional Australia provides us with the opportunity to deliver smart broadband solutions to rural and regional residential and business customers who have simply been overlooked by the NBN,” Sneddon said.
The acquisition follows hot on the heels of the re-emergence of voice over IP (VoIP) player, Freshtel, as newly-minted entity, Field Solutions Holdings.
The former telecommunications provider, which had been publicly-listed on the ASX, revealed in November last year that it would merge with privately-owned cloud services player, Field Solutions Group, in a deal worth millions.
In March, Freshtel told its shareholders that it would entirely shed its legacy VoIP business in favour of the raft of IT, telco and cloud services provided by its acquisition target.
“It is the company’s intention, following reinstatement, to discontinue its current VoIP business and to focus solely on FSG’s business and operations going forward,” it said at the time.
Freshtel said in November last year that the acquisition of FSG would constitute a change in the nature and scale of its activities – no longer would it provide just telecommunications services, it would become a full-blown telecoms and technology services provider.
