JSE-listed TeleMasters Holdings (TLM), a licenced communication service provider, has announced the acquisition of a 25% stake in data centre specialist ConexLink, effective 1 June.
ConexLink, a new carrier neutral and vendor neutral facility outside Pretoria, brings to Gauteng an carrier grade disaster recovery centre that ticks all the boxes for physical security and georedundancy, says TeleMasters CEO Jaco Voigt.
Agreements have been concluded with a number of leading fibre providers who now have nodes in place at the facility, to support enterprises that must comply with the most stringent disaster recovery requirements.
“The acquisition of the 25% stake in ConexLink is complementary to the strategic vision we have for our Catalytic business. It allows us to provide additional options to our customers, and also exposes the group to larger enterprise opportunities,” he says.
Although the acquisition had been part of TeleMasters Holdings’ growth plans for the past year, Voigt says the current environment makes the move a timeous one. “There is now a lot of focus at board level on risk management and risk containment, with backup and business continuity a top priority. So our acquisition positions us to support these enterprises as they review their disaster recovery strategies to strengthen redundancy and compliance,” he says.
TeleMasters Holdings is set to make further announcements on strategic acquisitions and partnerships within the next few months.
“For the past 18 months, we have been running an operational optimisation exercise, and we are now poised for growth. We believe the current environment will present us with significant opportunities to expand on our growth strategy,” Voigt says.