Datatec acquires 50.01 percent stake in Inflow Technologies

Johannesburg, Sept 12 : South Africa based global information and communication technology (ITC) group Datatec has acquired a 50.01 percent stake in Indian ICT distribution company Inflow Technologies Private Ltd, a Datatec statement said.

The statement released late Thursday said that the remaining 49.99 percent stake will continue to be held by the Indian company's management and other existing shareholders.

The acquisition of a 50.01 percent stake in Inflow, with its presence in nine key Indian cities, provides Datatec with an excellent entry point and initial footprint in India.

Inflow also has operations in Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Inflow is a value-added distributor focusing on technology enablement and distribution of security, storage and networking products, solutions and services.

Inflow has alliances with 22 global technology vendors including CheckPoint, Nokia, McAfee Ironport, Websense, Radware, NetApp and Quantum.

The investment will also provide Datatec with a platform to add additional vendors and eventual incorporation into the Westcon brand.

Inflow achieved revenue of USD 32 million (Rs.1.28 billion) in the last financial year ending March 31, 2008 and currently has over 130 employees.

Commenting on the acquisition the Datatec chief executive officer Jens Montanana said: 'India is a very large and fast growing market offering strong prospects in our sector with a lower cost of entry compared to many other developing markets.'

'It offers potentially higher returns and greater organic investment opportunities,' he added.

'Our investment in Inflow is another important step in our international strategy to increase our exposure to the world’s major emerging markets which has recently seen our presence grow in markets such as Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Brazil,” Montanana said.

The Inflow Technologies chief executive officer Byju Pillai said: “This investment along with access to global best practices of Datatec in value added distribution gives us greater ability to grow our market share, make alliances with new technology vendors and expand into new geographies.”