Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed Reunert has reached an agreement to buy 74.2% of management and technology consulting firm IQbusiness – previously The IQ Business Group.

The value of the acquisition of the thousand-employee-strong IQbusiness, to be done through Reunert’s wholly owned Reunert ICT Holdings subsidiary, was not disclosed. IQbusiness has turnover of more than R1-billion/year, Reunert said.

Founded 25 years ago, IQbusiness, led by CEO Adam Craker, focuses on consulting and contracting in the financial services, retail, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors.

IQbusiness will form part of the Solutions and Systems Integration cluster of Reunert ICT following the conclusion of the transaction.

“The acquisition of IQbusiness and its integration into Reunert ICT creates synergies for an expanded range of complementary offerings, with a significant increase in client access in both the enterprise and SME space, and improved routes to market through both direct and channel marketing relationships,” Reunert said in a statement on Thursday.

“The combination of IQbusiness and Reunert ICT aligns to our strategic intent to create the leading South African ICT company and provides offerings and capabilities in business optimisation, solutions and systems integration focusing on digital business transformation through data science, cloud adoption, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the internet of things.”

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‘Meaningful scale’

Reunert CEO Alan Dickson said: “There is a strong culture and values alignment between our teams, and I am exceptionally pleased that all the management shareholders in IQbusiness have retained their equity investment. This reflects their belief and motivation in the transaction and will greatly enhance the integration of IQbusiness into Reunert.”

Rob Godlonton, a former senior EOH executive who leads Reunert’s system integration business, +OneX, said in the same statement that the acquisition of IQbusiness “adds meaningful scale to the Solutions and Systems Integration cluster in Reunert ICT”.

The transaction must still be approved by the Competition Commission.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry