Certus undergoes management buy out

Tue, 26 Oct 2004

Certus undergoes management buy out following further success with outsourced Business Integration Services

Certus Undergoes Management Buy Out Following Further Success with Outsourced Business Integration Services

Certus broadens offering to include BEA Systems

AUCKLAND, 26 October 2004 - Certus, a leading IT consulting and implementation company, today announced the completion of a management buy out (MBO) involving the sale of Datec Group shares in Certus to senior managers. Led by Greg Woolley, founder and managing director of Certus, the MBO has been driven by the company's successful investment in outsourced 'on demand' business integration services, which has seen rapid pick up by clients both in New Zealand and South East Asia. The MBO has been financed by Greg Woolley and the general manager of services at Certus, Penny White, as well as investment from new shareholder, Summit Equity Fund Ltd.

According to Greg Woolley, the launch of the business integration capability earlier this year, and successful deals with TNT Logistics Malaysia in particular, has seen continued growth in demand for the hosted solution. "In addition to TNT Logistics, other multinationals such as Michelin, Danone and Makro Cash & Carry now use the platform," he said. "We are also exploring opportunities in China from our base in Singapore. In addition, we have added other hosted vertical applications to this offering such as warehouse management systems which are fully integrated and delivered on an 'on demand' basis."

"To fully exploit these expanding opportunities both in New Zealand and Asia the business requires a significant capital base, and the MBO was the most appropriate way of achieving this," said Mr Woolley.

Mike Ah Koy, CEO of Datec Group, said that "a major part of Certus' future will be in the outsourced 'on demand' area in New Zealand and South East Asia, while Datec will remain a major IBM partner in the South Pacific. We decided that Greg's offer to buy back our shares in Certus made sense, as both companies can now focus on their particular strengths. Certus and Datec will continue to work closely together, offering complete IT solutions to New Zealand based clients. We have been impressed by the international growth of Certus and wish them well."

With the expansion in capabilities, Certus has added a number of major new services and partners to portfolio. These include a new business partnership with BEA Systems, one of the world's leading enterprise infrastructure software companies. Greg Woolley explains, "while Certus will remain a specialist in IBM solutions, it is essential that we offer a broad range of solutions for our growing number of clients in New Zealand and internationally. BEA's focus on business integration services in particular, complements and broadens our current offering."

According to Adam Young, New Zealand Sales Manager for BEA Systems, "Certus' continued growth made them a compelling partnership prospect. We are excited about the new relationship, and look forward to training and working with their highly skilled consultants."

About Certus
Established in 1999, Certus is one of New Zealand's leading IT consulting and technology implementation companies, with offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Certus has been recognised by Deloitte as a '2004 Deloitte Fast 50' company following significant growth in the 'on demand' offering.

Certus utilises best of breed tools from BEA, IBM and Microsoft to provide a complete range of IT solutions to businesses, such as business integration, business intelligence, systems and storage management, application development, enterprise architecture, business consulting and project management.

In May 2004, the company launched its latest offering, outsourced 'on demand' business integration, which unifies all aspects of a business, including people, processes and IT applications. The business integration capability provides outsourced Business to Business (B2B) integration services, as well as Enterprise Application Services (EAI) on an 'on demand' basis. The infrastructure is based on IBM's WebSphere Business Integration suite of products running on servers housed at IBM in Auckland.

Certus Consulting has extensive experience in a wide variety of sectors including telecommunications, logistics, insurance, energy and utilities, finance, retail and government. International clients include TNT Logistics in Malaysia and Thailand and 3M. New Zealand clients include AMP New Zealand, AREVA T&D New Zealand, Farmers, BNZ, Fonterra Co-Operative Group, Westpac, Sky City, Foodstuffs South Island, Ministry of Health and the Department of Internal Affairs.

For more information, see www.certus.co.nz .

ENDS

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