Solution 6 buys Balanced IT

AlphaWest, an IT integrator owned by Solution 6, has decided to branch into NSW with the acquisition of Sydney-based integrator Balanced IT.

The acquisition gives AlphaWest, an integrator with a strong foothold in Western Australia and South Australia as well as access to a large chunk of the eastern seaboard currently serviced by Balanced IT. Balanced IT began in August 1995 by founders John Perkins and Steve Grundy, and grew to a company with 50 employees, and profits of over $1 million on $24 million in revenue in 2000.

Balanced IT co-founder John Perkins said he and Grundy had started the company with the intention of becoming the best Australian-owned integrator in the country, but lately have realised they needed a burst of capital to achieve such a status. "We needed to build a branch network across the country," he said.

On the other side of the country, AlphaWest was thinking in similar terms Although they are larger than Balanced IT, it was going to prove costly to build a branch network along the Eastern Seaboard, so linking with Balanced IT was a quick fix to the problem. They would also get access to blue-chip clients Balanced IT already had under its wing, including the NSW Police, Freight Corp and Rothschild.

Although no details have been finalised on how the two companies will integrate, Perkins is fairly sure the Balanced IT brand will be discarded in favour of the AlphaWest brand.

Perkins acknowledges that historically Solution 6 has made a raft of bad investments when acquiring other IT companies, but is confident this decision will reap benefits for all involved.

"[The bad acquisitions] were a part of the old Solution 6 management," he said. "AlphaWest has acquired 14 companies in the past, and they have all been very successful. The new management at Solution 6 have a perfect track record, and we have found them to be quite remarkable."