In a deal said to be worth R360 million, Technology company Altron announced on Monday, 9 December 2019, that it acquired Ubusha Technologies, an identity security firm. While the acquisition has yet to be finalised – upon the Competition Commission’s approval – Altron hopes that it will come into effect from 1 March 2020.
“By acquiring Ubusha we are enhancing our capability in security, one of our growth areas, others being cloud, IOT (internet of things) and data analytics. With identity security offering we will enable customers to securely manage the identity profile of their clients across devices, platforms and locations,” says Altron’s CEO, Mteto Nyati.
“Looking at where we are today, transactions have moved online, and the identity profile of an individual has become valuable, driven by privacy concerns. Our customers will now manage identity securely in line with data privacy compliance and governance.”
According to a report by Business Day, Ubusha has a ’70-strong workforce’ making it ‘the largest identity security company in Africa’. The company, which was founded in 2003, includes customers like ‘Standard Bank, Investec, Nasdaq, Nedbank, Absa Bank, First National Bank, JSE, Vodacom, Telkom, and Massmart’.
Altron hopes to expand its’ focus across multiple industries by leveraging Ubusha’s already established global partnerships.
“With Altron’s geographic footprint and extensive customer base, we saw an opportunity to expand our identity security technology solutions into new markets and customer segments,” says Ubusha’s MD, Marius Agenbag. “We also looked at the opportunity to mature our offering into other next-generation security services such as data analytics and IOT, which are core to the Altron strategy. We are looking forward to being part of the Altron Group.”
Edited by Jenna Delport
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