Poynting, South Africa’s largest wireless antenna designer and producer, has formally acquired African Union Communications (Aucom).
Poynting acquired Aucom for R49,5-million by way of the issue of 66-million Poynting shares with effect from 1 July 2013.
Coen Bester, chairman of Poynting’s board of directors, comments: “This is Poynting’s first major deal since listing on the JSE, and we anticipate that it will more than double the company’s turnover. Poynting’s board has been united from the outset regarding this undertaking with Aucom, given that our companies and people share the same values and vision.”
The acquisition enables Poynting to diversify its offering by ramping up the distribution of their digital TV products via third party service providers into the previously untapped African consumer market.
Aucom is a Pretoria-based provider of professional products, system integration and implementation, and commissioning services to the broadcast and telecommunications markets in South Africa and beyond.
Joining forces with Poynting will enable Aucom, with its strong African network, to leverage Poynting’s product offering and technical expertise to grow market share.
Villiers Joubert, Aucom founder and MD, says: “The key to this merger is that it will enable considerable expansion as a group. There will be more muscle that will give rise to previously unexplored opportunities and enable us to compete against the big industry players.”
Andre Fourie, CEO of Poynting, expects that the deal will facilitate the raising of additional capital for the development of specific projects to meet the needs of the growing African digital television market.