Management and technology consulting organisation Decision Inc has begun its international expansion strategy with the acquisition of ABM Systems, a business intelligence and performance management company in Australia.
“Part of our five-year strategy was the expansion of the business into other markets,” says Nick Bell, CEO, Decision Inc. “We identified Australia as a potential target and were introduced to the leadership of ABM Systems as a starting point. We were able to find much similarity between the companies, alongside a shared ambition and vision for the future.”
The planning for international expansion commenced after the investment by private equity firm SAED into the business in 2016. The team, led by Bell, concluded the transaction on 30 June 2017.
ABM Systems is in its 20th year of operations and is one of the leading Qlik and Adaptive Insights partners in Australia. With offices in Sydney and satellite offices in Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne the business has a significant reach across the entire country.
“What attracted us to ABM Systems was that the services we both offered our clients were similar and very complimentary,” says Bell. “The opportunity to take Decision Inc’s data, digital and advanced analytics practices into the Australian economy we believed would help to further solidify ABM Systems position as the market leader.
“Further to that we saw an opportunity for our own staff to gain global exposure and experience as we look to integrate the services teams into a global consulting force.”
With the deal concluded, Bell and the executive team are working to bring greater integration and sharing of best practices across the consulting teams.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to expand our business into other territories and believe that this acquisition will make both companies stronger as we learn from each other.
“Our plan to expand into other markets will continue with ABM Systems being the first of many acquisitions as we continue to build on our plans desire to create a global Information Management and Analytics company,” Bell says.