Clever acquires data and Internet provider

ASX-listed wireless operator, Clever Communications (ASX:CVA), has acquired specialised data and Internet provider, NPH.

The acquisition will see Clever handover 4.375 million shares valued at $0.08 per share, which will be held in escrow for a 12-month period, and a $300,000 cash payment over six months. Clever managing director, Scott Carter, said the company had gone through a restructuring and rebuilding process over the last financial year to ensure it was ready for growth.

“We’ve gotten ourselves into a situation now where we’re a publicly listed company and bulking up via acquisitions is a strategy that makes sense,” he said. “We’re acquiring business customers who are buying business grade data and voice communication services.”

Carter said the acquisition would bring 160 NPH customers across, lifting Clever’s customer total to about 1500.

“The majority of NPH customers are in Sydney, which is where we invested in a new network about 18 months ago,” he said. “We’ve got blanket coverage for about 80 per cent of businesses in Sydney.”

NPH will come under the Clever banner, and the wireless carrier will only keeping one NPH staff member.

“We’re just taking on the person that had key customer relations,” Carter said. “They didn’t require a large number of people.”

More acquisition opportunities were on the cards, Carter said.

“Businesses we’re looking to acquire are ones that have customers buying business data and voice services,” he said. “The sweet spot is organisations that have between $1 million to $10 million turnover.”

Last year, Clever changed its name from Access Providers and brought Saise Telecom and Activ Australia under the same banner.