SEACOM and BT today announced a strategic alliance which will help SEACOM further secure its own infrastructure and deliver new networking, security and communications solutions to enterprise customers in Africa.

As a leading Internet connectivity supplier that owns Africa’s most extensive ICT infrastructure, SEACOM will be leveraging BT’s services, vendor relationships and global expertise to expand its portfolio of services aimed at African businesses. Since the launch of its Business division, SEACOM has substantially grown its customer and partnership base to strengthen its offerings and serve customers beyond existing markets.

SEACOM’s customers will benefit from access to BT’s Cloud Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) platform. In today’s business environment data, business applications and users live beyond an organisation’s traditional network. SIEM tools provide real-time visibility and monitoring across the organisation’s entire IT environment, providing an ideal security overlay to SEACOM’s existing ICT solutions.

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BT protects some of the world’s largest organisations from a myriad of fast-evolving cyber threats with a global network of dedicated 24/7 Security Operations Centres (SOCs). BT’s more than 3000 cyber security experts help customers detect, analyse and quickly respond to cybersecurity incidents as they happen.

“We’re excited to form this strategic alliance with BT and see the combined value of what we bring to our respective markets. With SEACOM’s global network and local presence, and BT’s global reach and expertise, we will be able to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of Cloud, security, and connectivity services that are reliable, scalable, and at the cutting-edge of industry,” says Oliver Fortuin, Group Chief Executive Officer of SEACOM.

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Alessandro Adriani, director of system integrators and telecom service providers at BT’s Global unit, said: “We are thrilled to deliver BT’s world-class solutions to SEACOM and to their customers across the African continent. The areas of secure multi-cloud connectivity, next-generation networking solutions and collaboration services are the sweet spot where SEACOM and BT will combine their respective strengths.”

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

South African based Seacom has agreed to buy two businesses from JSE-listed EOH Holdings, Network Solutions (EOH-NS) and Hymax, for R144.9-million. The proceeds from the sale, net of costs, will mainly be used to reduce EOH debt further as the IT services group continues with its plan to deleverage its balance sheet.
“EOH-NS and Hymax have vast experience in the delivery of wholesale and managed service solutions for the networking and voice segments of the telecommunications industry. EOH-NS and Hymax are also strategic and essential partners to a variety of enterprise clients covering multiple verticals across the private and public sectors,” EOH said in a statement on Thursday outlining the details of the agreement with Seacom.

Seacom CEO Oliver Fortuin said: “The acquisition of EOH-NS and Hymax forms part of Seacom’s ambitious growth strategy that will transform the business into a converged telecoms provider across Africa. By expanding our on-network capabilities and reach with this acquisition, and the acquisition of Hirani Telecom and Africell Uganda’s infrastructure, Seacom aims to provide customers with comprehensive, enterprise-grade ICT solutions and quality connectivity.”
EOH CEO Stephen van Coller said the sale of the businesses is in line with its targeted disposals strategy, which includes the sale of assets that are capital intensive.
“In support of this, and due to EOH’s current capital constraints relative to the mobile network operators, and as the group prioritise creating a fit-for-purpose capital structure, we have looked to ensure that EOH-NS and Hymax can continue investing in world-class infrastructure and maintain their service excellence.”

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The transaction is subject to several conditions, including the unconditional approval of the competition authorities. Seacom will make an upfront payment to EOH of R115.9-million to secure the assets, representing 80% of the enterprise value, upon deal close. The remaining money will be held in escrow for 12 months as security for the payment of any warranty and indemnity claims. Fifty percent of this retention amount will be released after six months, assuming no claims are made.

The value of the consolidated net assets of EOH-NS and Hymax at 31 July 2021 was R70.5-million. The normalised profit after tax of the businesses came to R4.7-million for the financial year ended 31 July 2021.

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

One of Africa’s leading telecoms services firms, SEACOM has appointed Oliver Fortuin as its new CEO – effective 4 January 2021. This follows the resignation of its erstwhile CEO Byron Clatterbuck, who joined the ICT company in 2012 as its Chief Commercial Officer and became SEACOM Group CEO in February 2015. Fortuin, who is currently the Group Chief Enterprise Officer at MTN, has worked for over two decades in the ICT sector, across South Africa and the rest of Africa, with industry-leading organisations such as IBM, BT, and, most recently, MTN.

“The SEACOM team has built an excellent data connectivity platform in the markets where we operate. We now hope to expand upon this, as well as to develop more industry-leading services that today’s corporate customers in Africa require. Our key focus will be to strengthen our customer base in the corporate segment by offering a wider range of services that provide greater value to our customers, and can help SEACOM capture more share of wallet in this space.”

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SEACOM CEO, Byron Clatterbuck, who joined the ICT company in 2012 as its Chief Commercial Officer, and became SEACOM Group CEO in February 2015, has resigned and will be ending his tenure with the company on March 31, 2021. “Clatterbuck has been instrumental in shifting SEACOM from a subsea cable operator to becoming Africa’s leading Internet and data transmission provider – offering services to other service providers, direct to corporates, and, more recently, into the consumer market with the WonderNet brand. The shareholders and employees of SEACOM would like to thank Clatterbuck for his valuable contributions over the last eight years,” says SEACOM’s Chairperson, Pieter Uys.

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Clatterbuck explained why now is the right time for him to hand over the reins; “I am making this decision for personal reasons, and this has been planned for some time. However, I did not want to make the final move until we had the right leader lined up to take over the leadership of SEACOM as we push further into African markets and continue our growth in the enterprise segment.”

“I am very pleased and confident to be handing over the leadership of SEACOM to Oliver Fortuin, who will be ably supported by SEACOM’s world-class executive team.”

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