Tecala Group has announced a partnership with business investment specialist Armitage Associates. The partnership, which involves an $18-million investment in Tecala, will support a planned national growth strategy and extend the company’s ability to serve clients across Australia’s mid-market sector. Part of the strategy will include expanding the businesses presence in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, as well as significantly investing in people to meet the growing demands of Tecala’s client base.
Pieter DeGunst, Tecala’s Managing Director, said, “the partnership comes at an important time for the company, as it works to expand its operations and grow its portfolio of offerings for clients. During the past 15 years, Tecala has positioned itself as a leading provider of consulting, managed IT services, and cloud solutions. This new partnership with Armitage will allow us to further scale the business nationally and increase our investment into emerging technology areas to prepare our clients for the future.”
He added that the investment by Armitage, which involves the company taking a significant stake in Tecala, was the result of a detailed, 18-month review of a range of potential business partners: “We did not want to follow the traditional private equity route, where investors are looking to bolt together businesses and make a quick buck. Rather, we were looking for a company who understood our growth strategy and were keen to become involved as a long-term partner.
“The existing Tecala board and leadership team remains in place and will continue to have full oversight of all operations. Mark De Ambrosis joins the board, and along with the dedicated Armitage team, brings decades of experience in scaling companies such as Tecala, as we prepare for our next phase of growth.”
Industry veteran Steve Nola also joins the Tecala board as Chairman in order to further provide advice and guidance to help the Tecala team scale and lead the market. With over 30 years in the industry, he brings with him a wealth of valuable market knowledge and experience.”
Mark De Ambrosis from Armitage Associates said the new partnership was strategic for both companies, as Tecala represented the type of organisation with which the investment firm was keen to work: “We had been examining the managed services market for some time and could see the potential for strong future growth across Australia. We could clearly see that Tecala had already established a strong footprint and had a clear plan for ongoing growth.”
DeGunst said the relationship would be further strengthened by the fact that the two companies shared a similar business culture, with focus on both continuing to develop the world-class team of people at Tecala, as well as making sure the service offerings closely match the requirements of customers to meet constantly evolving demands in the business environment.
“Our focus will now be on growing our portfolio of services and making them available to a wider range of businesses around the country. Working with Armitage, we will have a network of people with the experience to help us achieve our goals.”
DeGunst said a portion of the new funding would be used to pursue strategic, targeted acquisitions to further grow Tecala’s service offerings. “We are always on the lookout for areas where we can acquire new capabilities and this funding will enable us to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.”
