Geoff Lewis - CEO, ASG Group
ASG Group has completed its $124 million acquisition of SMS Management & Technology (ASX:SMX).
SMS and ASG will integrate into a single operating business, a process that should take three months and that will be led by recently appointed head of operations, Andrew Rose.
Rose joined ASG from DWS earlier this month. DWS was the first company to bid for SMS and both DWS and ASG battled for months before a decision was made.
The priority is ensuring customers get “the very best service and quickly see real tangible benefits” from the new company, said ASG chief executive officer, Geoff Lewis.
The integration process will start by ASG and SMS making its services available to each other’s customers.
The new business is expected to generate $500 million in annual revenue and will count on a total headcount of 2,000 employees.
SMS will be delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the new business will trade under a “refreshed ASG brand”, according to ASG.
The M&T Resources recruitment business, a subsidiary of SMS, will continue to trade under its existing brand.
“We are very ambitious to do great work for clients - new and old - and we think our enhanced capabilities will prove very effective,” Lewis said.
The new business will deliver complete services from infrastructure and managed services through to business and IT advice and solutions implementation.
ASG Group is owned by the Japanese company Nomura Research Institute (NRI). Shingo Konomoto, NRI’s chief executive, said the addition of the SMS business would allow ASG to now tackle the biggest opportunities available in IT services in the Australian market.
“It is a company with a rich history and long track record of successfully servicing major customers, especially in the corporate sector
“Combined with ASG’s strong position in the government sector, SMS gives us a great capacity to deliver the full set of IT services that even the most complex and demanding of customers would require.
“To this outstanding local capacity and customer engagement, NRI adds its financial strength and global reach. We believe it’s a compelling mix.”
