Asia-Pacific based IT services company Hyro has purchased New Zealand-based identity management firm Identity Solutions Laboratories (ISL) for an estimated cost of just under a million dollars.
Hyro will pay 20 percent NPAT (Net Profit After Tax) paid half yearly over three years. ISL currently has 12 staff spread across Australia and New Zealand with eight based in Wellington and the rest scattered across client sites in Australia.
The acquisition is effective from December 1, 2006. Hyro also purchased Canberra-based IT services company One Planet Solutions (OPS) this week for the net amount of $2.7 million. OPS currently has clients such as the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Richard Lord, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hyro, said identity management has fast become a specialized skill that is "so hot right now" in the market, a chief driver for the acquisition of ISL. Lord said a lot of the push for online advertising or e-commerce relies heavily on effective identity management today, a driver for the acquisition of ISL.
"All up ISL have about 12 staff with specialized identity management skills that a lot of companies cannot do credible e-commerce or advertising campaigns without," Lord said.
"Once the merger is complete we will have more than 400 people in the group as no ISL staff will be retrenched - this purchase is about our growth.
"As more and more commerce shifts to digital channels, our clients need to ensure that the services they offer are increasingly personalized, implemented digital services are more effective and that the potential for identity fraud is managed."
ISL managing director Stan Levine will head the Hyro Identity Management Practice. Levine said the merger is an opportunity to merge a point solutions company such as ISL with a digital services company such as hyro.
"This means that we will be able to position our services as part of an overall value proposition and extend the reach of our offer to the broader, and growing, community of Hyro's clients."