Ben Smith (Arinda IT)
Spirit Telecom has jumped back on the acquisition bandwagon with the $2.6 million purchase of managed services provider Arinda IT.
Arinda, which is the trading name of Bigscreensound, currently has 300 customers and 12 members of staff working across Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Tweed Heads and Byron Bay.
Under the deal, Spirit will pay $2.1 million in cash for Arinda, when the remaining sum in scrip upon completion expected before the end of the month.
According to Spirit, Arinda made $2.2 million revenue in the last financial year, a 16 per cent increase from 2018.
Founded in 2002 primarily to provide the hospitality industry with in-room internet billing systems and internet kiosks, Arinda has expanded into a fully managed IT services business, providing data security and protection, Microsoft Office 365 management, business Wi-Fi solutions, network implementation and disaster recovery services.
As well as Microsoft, the company currently has partnerships with Eaton, Toshiba, Ruckus Wireless and Cisco.
The publicly-listed Spirit claimed the deal would enhance its existing product and service offerings for its SME customer base, as well as providing greater access to hospitality and healthcare markets.
“The acquisition of Arinda IT brings to Spirit an instantly accretive expansion into managed services and the opportunity to diversify our product and service offering to our growing customer base,” Spirit MD Geoff Neate said.
“This marks Spirits’ third acquisition in as many months and is an exciting foray into the complementary sector of managed services. Arinda has a smart team that has demonstrated its ability to grow its top line in a disciplined and well-executed manner.”
According to Arinda CEO Ben Smith, the two companies had worked together for a number of years already. “We become Spirit’s first MSP and can see the great opportunities for our customers, employees and shareholders,” he added.
The latest acquisition marks the third for Spirit since April this year, when it first bought licensed telecommunications carrier LinkOne for $5.7 million.
A month later, it announced plans to buy telecommunications provider Building Connect for $300,000.
The company also fended off an acquisition attempt by Uniti Wireless, rejecting the fellow public company’s bid in April.
