Alex West (Swoop)
Fxed wireless and wholesale network infrastructure provider Swoop has acquired its fifth telco in less than six months, picking up Sydney-based VoiceHub Group for $6 million in total.
One of the two businesses within the group is VoiceHub, which offers wholesale voice services, unified communications, virtual numbers, SMS messaging solutions and advanced networking across Australia and New Zealand.
The other business is inbound, connectivity and communications services provider Harbourtel, which also operates in the A/NZ region.
ARN understands that all three VoiceHub Group employees will make the transition under the new ownership and the company's existing services will not be changed.
This marks the fifth telco acquisition by Swoop since it became a publicly listed company in May this year, previously acquiring Victorian-based Speedweb and Perth-based Community Communications (ComComs) in June, SA-based Beam Internet in July and Newcastle-based Countrytell in early October.
“Acquiring VoiceHub’s network provides another opportunity for Swoop to further expand the range of services we can offer across our growing client base in Australia,” said Swoop CEO Alex West.
“VoiceHub has invested significantly in upgrading operations and automation technology; and gives us a strong springboard for continued growth in this market.
“We look forward to the opportunities this acquisition provides in establishing strong voice services capability across our business brand where unified voice and conference collaboration tools are becoming increasingly important to run any business, whilst also providing further infrastructure to support our large partner channel.”
The purchase price consists of $4 million in cash and $2 million in Swoop shares at the 30-day volume-weighted average prices (VWAP) prior to completion, which is anticipated to occur by the end of the month.
Of this, a deferred consideration of up to $2.5 million based on the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of VoiceHub for the 2022 financial year will be payable in two-thirds cash and one-third in Swoop shares at the 30 day VWAP of Swoop shares prior to the completion of the deal.
In Swoop’s financial results for 2021, the company’s statutory pre-tax earnings losses increased significantly by 467.6 per cent, down to $8.8 million in the red.
