Datatec, a South African multinational technology group led by businessman Jens Montanana, has sold its management consulting business Analysys Mason to UK fund manager Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) for R4.12 billion ($252 million) as part of a move to unlock value from its investment in the tech industry.
“We believe that now is the right time to realize our investment as part of our strategic review process, and we see BDC as the ideal partner to take the business forward into its next growth phase,” Montanana wrote in a note to Datatec’s investors.
According to the terms of the agreement signed with the Montanana-led group, BDC will acquire all of Analysys Mason’s issued shares for $260 million through Aramis Bidco, a new company formed for the purpose of the transaction.
The transaction comes nearly two months after Analysys Mason, the world’s leading management consulting firm focused on telecom, media, and technology, announced the acquisition of Northern Sky Research (NSR), a global provider of satellite and space market research and consulting services.
According to experts, the move is part of a concerted effort by management to tap into value in the group’s structure, as Datatec’s valuation could rise to R60 ($3.7) per share if the right mix of strategies were deployed to create value from its operations.
The group’s shares have risen by more than 20 percent in the past week to R43 ($2.62) per share at the time of writing, as investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were upbeat about the recent transaction with BDC.
Datatec is a South African ICT solutions and services provider that offers software and cloud computing solutions such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) (SaaS).
Under the leadership of Montanana, who founded South African Datatec in 1986 and owns a significant 11.98-percent stake in the technology group, the ICT solutions, and services company has seen its operations expand to more than 50 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
Montanana’s stake in Datatec is presently worth R1.12 billion ($68.4 million), while the company’s market capitalization is R9.33 billion ($570 million).
Datatec reported a profit of $5.7 million and revenue of $4.11 billion at the end of its fiscal year 2022, a 2.5-percent decrease from the restated revenue of $4.21 billion reported the previous year.
