Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Australian accounting and small business software tools provider MYOB has acquired one of Australia's larger web hosting providers in what at first glance appears to be one of the more unusual acquisitions of the year. Or is it?
A thing to note about the acquisition of Ilisys Pty Ltd for an
undisclosed amount is that it has been very low key. There is a brief
announcement on the Ilisys website
and to date nothing at all on the MYOB site and no ASX announcement.
As it says in its blurb, MYOB provides accounting software, payroll
software and real-time business management tools to more than 700,000
businesses worldwide. Ilisys provides business web hosting. The target
market is essentially the same - small to medium sized businesses.
Web hosting is a tough business and it is difficult to see that MYOB
has entered this market space to be a player unless there is some
synergy that it can leverage into its existing software business.
In a letter to its customers informing them of the sale, Ilisys had this to say:
"From your point of view, very little will change as a result of the
sale. MYOB will continue conducting business using the Ilisys name. The
present management and staff will continue with the business. The only
visible change will be that the MYOB logo and ABN will appear on future
documents, including your invoices and receipts.
"Your service will not change; you will still contact the same team and
access the high quality of service that Ilisys is known for."
From the above, it would appear that the Ilisys customer base, many of
whom are not MYOB customers, could be an attractive cherry tree ripe
for the picking. However, might there be something more to MYOB's
sudden move into the web hosting business?
This is all pure conjecture of course but is there a possibility that
MYOB may be contemplating a move into the software as a service space?
If so, then a well established web hosting service provider with all of
its associated expertise and infrastructure would be an invaluable
asset.
David Bass
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