Paul Bouris (Azentro) and Darren Gore (Calibre One)
Brisbane-based Telstra partner Azentro has bought Adelaide’s Calibre One as both companies decide they have to “get big or get out”.
As part of the deal, effective immediately, the two companies will form a 110-person strong team across Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia and a joint sales backlog of $35 million in 2021.
All staff will be retained as the brands continue to serve their respective customers, Azentro said in a blog post.
Azentro CEO Paul Bouris, who will now be the CEO of the new joint group, said both leadership teams realised they had to “get big or get out” and that organic growth alone was unsustainable with lower margins and higher overheads driving the channel towards consolidation.
“The value of the combined business is much greater than Azentro and Calibre One each would have delivered on their own,” he added.
Azentrol, a regular winner at Telstra’s Partner Awards, has been operating 30 years and specialises in telephony, mobility, unified communications and the internet of things.
It also has vendor partnerships with Mitel, Cisco, Genesys and mobility management firm Bluewater.
Meanwhile, Calibre One launched in 2006 after evolving from an association between GSoft and Marble IT, which then merged with Telstra dealer Nexus Tel in 2016.
It has vendor partnerships with Telstra, Microsoft, Cisco and Fortinet and also specialises in unified communications, IT managed services, telematics and IoT, connectivity and mobility, cloud and cyber security.
Bouris said the two companies address the “under-served and under-appreciated customers in lucrative growth markets outside the Melbourne-Sydney nexus”.
Calibre One CEO and general manager Darren Gore said the newly-merged group is poised for growth as one of the largest Telstra Partners outside of Sydney and Melbourne.
“What’s exciting is we now have the location, customers, people on the ground, infrastructure and relationships with vendors and customers to grow significant unified communications and IT managed services offerings in Queensland,” he said.
“Together we are a stronger, more capable and diverse organisation with significant opportunities for our people as we grow.”
Azentro group chairman Bob Bishop said the merger culminates years of mutual respect, compatible cultures and shared vision for customer experience between the two businesses.
“Darren and Paul have long associated through the Telstra Advisory Board, which facilitated their development of a shared and aligned vision. We expect to be more profitable and grow significantly in the years ahead,” Bishop added.
