Datafast snatches up Planet Netcom
- — 17 February, 2004 11:56
Internet provider Datafast is back on the acquisition trail, announcing plans to snatch up New South Wales ISP Planet Netcom.
The deal will add 15,000 dial-up, ADSL and fixed wireless ADSL Internet users to Datafast’s existing customer base, bringing its total subscriber figures to just over 100,000 customers. According to a statement issued by Datafast to the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday, the deal is subject to final board approval, but is expected to be given the go-ahead before the end of March. While the cost of the acquisition has not been released, the deal will incorporate cash, shares and options. The price of the acquisition will be determined once given the go-ahead by shareholders.
Planet Netcom was established under the Penrith Netcom name in 1994 as a regional ISP for the Penrith district. The ISP has since expanded its services across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and other regional areas around NSW.
Datafast CEO Simon Ehrenfeld said Planet Netcom has substantial synergies with the Datafast business.
“Planet Netcom also owns a wireless broadband network which will add scale to our existing wireless operations in Victoria and Western Australia,” he said.
Western Australia-based Datafast’s decision to acquire Planet Netcom follows the telco’s acquisition of Melbourne-based ISP KeyPoint in November last year. Datafast also acquired Internet provider EFTel in 2002, as well as several smaller ISPs nationally in 2003.
With the latest Planet Netcom acquisition, Datafast will have effectively quadrupled its customer base as at October 2002, Ehrenfeld said.
The Planet Netcom service will be co-branded with Datafast’s EFTel product initially, Ehrenfeld said. All services managed by Datafast will then be unified under the single EFTel name later this year, “when we’re ready to roll out telephony,” he said.
Datafast currently offers customers IP-based telephony under its Flatworld brand, but plans to develop a standard telephony service to bundle with its Internet products.
“We see a future in bundling,” Ehrenfeld said.
