Norwegian managed services provider Crayon is set to expand its Australian footprint with the acquisition of Rhipe.
The deal will see Crayon spend 2.6bn NOK (£218m) for publicly traded Rhipe, a cloud and licencing specialist. The deal is made through a Scheme of Arrangement and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Oslo-based Crayon counts Workplace from Facebook and Microsoft among its strategic vendor partners and reported revenues of 19.6bn NOK (£1.6bn) for its fiscal 2020. It now has a global headcount of over 2,000.
“This acquisition is part of our global expansion strategy as it helps to accelerate our business, especially in the Asia Pacific region,” stated Crayon CEO, Melissa Mulholland.
“Crayon and Rhipe’s go-to-market models are completely aligned, particularly when it comes to the channel business. Through our synergies, we will be able to drive business value from Day 1 of this acquisition”
Founded in 2003, Rhipe is a wholesale provider of subscription-based cloud licenses, infrastructure, and services in the APAC region. It has a staff of 500 employees and serves more than 3,000 IT resellers.
Rhipe Chairman, Gary Cox, stated: “Rhipe’s partners and customers will benefit from the broader global service capability from a combined Crayon and Rhipe.
“In addition, Crayon’s offer is positive news for Rhipe’s staff, as we believe there will be increased opportunities to develop new technologies and products and grow their careers.”
Crayon opened its first offices in Australia in August 2019 and has been steadily growing since. Last year it purchased Oracle specialist Navicle and Winc’s software licensing operations.
“We are excited about the possibility of bringing Rhipe to the Crayon family as it offers us the opportunity to continue to help our customers and partners optimise and innovate across APAC,” said Crayon Senior Vice President in APAC Rhonda Robati.
“This opportunity will bolster our core offering and strengthen our ability to help businesses with their digital transformation.”
