Having recently announced the acquisition of a siginificant stake in IT company Puleng Technologies, AEEI continues on its acquisition plan to bolster its Technology division by acquiring 51% equity in Kalula Communications, trading as Headset Solutions.
Based in Somerset West, Headsets is the authorised distributor of premium branded electronic products, namely Plantronics and Konftel. The business focuses on audio communications equipment and software, which support VoIP environments, unified communications, mobile use, gaming and music, servicing both corporate and retailer markets.
Group CEO of AEEI, Khalid Abdulla, says: “AEEI is pleased to welcome Headsets to the group. This synergistic acquisition further compliments our already substantial technology offering by increasing our market penetration and client reach and will be instrumental in assisting our technology division to achieve its objectives for substantial growth over the next few years.”
Tony Brown, CEO of Headset Solutions, adds: “We look forward to the growth opportunities provided by the synergies between Headsets and AEEI. Together we will be able to leverage our relationships to further increase our customer base and drive Headsets to grow into the unified communications market.”
The deal is another milestone for AEEI, as Headsets, with an estimated additional R60-million annual revenue to the group. This will complement and grow AEEI’s technology division with additional capabilities, technical skills across the group with its plans of innovation and world class support to AEEI’s associates, clients, as well as various multinational companies.
With these acquisitions, AEEI’s IT division alone is already expecting to double its annual revenue to R450-million for the year ending August 2017 compared to R215-million for the 2016 financial year end.
It is anticipated that AEEI’s investment into Headsets will have a pay-back period of three to four years.
The AEEI Group will continue its strategic focus to grow the value of its core operational investments and improve the value-add on strategic investments. Management remains focused on the implementation of its ‘Vision 2020 Vision’ strategy and is well on track to achieve its targets. AEEI has indicated that it will, as part of its Vision 2020 Vision strategy, separately list its IT division within the next three years.
