iiNet: Looking to buy east coast ISPs
- 23 February, 2010 10:36
- Comments 5
iiNet has flagged efforts to buy up ISPs on the east coast to expand its business.
The ISP has been involved in a spate of acquisitions for the past decade, the most recent additions being Perth carriers, Up’n’away and Westnet.
Chief financial officer, David Buckingham, said there was a lot of headroom on the balance sheet for further acquisitions. iiNet’s financial results for the six months ending December 31 indicated revenue and profits were up significantly.
“It all comes down to finding [company] with the right attractiveness in terms of quality of customer base, profitability, synergy potential and price,” he said.
iiNet CEO, Michael Malone, favours ISPs operating within its own geographic footprint that have customers operating off-net (other networks), which it can migrate to its own DSLAMs.
“For now, at least, our primary targets are more likely to be east coast-based and more likely to have a DSL not on that one ... i broadband customer base,” he said. “So that is retail, which is where our core is – we want to keep going with that.”
According to Malone, iiNet has been in discussions with all its competitors for almost a decade and cementing an agreement can be a lengthy process.
“In many cases, it is just about when the time is right for them to exit the market and a price point can be reached where we both feel comfortable,” he said. “Westnet is a good example – we were in talks for eight years. That is just part of the game.
“We’ve been in the industry since the early 1990s, so we know everyone out there and it’s just about finding the right time for both parties.”
While some agreements were close to being finalised, Malone could not disclose the names of organisations involved.
The ISP is also ramping up for its impending IPTV launch in March. The product delivers digital television through the Internet. iiNet has been working with an undisclosed distributor to refine the technology.
“We’ve got a distributor and we want to work on getting a bureau model happening so the product will be available to other ISPs as well,” Malone said.
Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.
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Comments
Matt
We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
... I hope those East Coast CS asimilees like low pay and Perth.
ninka
iiNet going to buy TPG? :P
Now that sure would give a big foothold on the east coast.
Jeff
All reports point to Netspace, since they've been in "talks" with them for years as well
John
How about an iinet merger with internode?
Ailie
No they can leave Internode alone thank you very much. I wouldn't want to see my downloads split into peak/off-peak zones with ridiculous timeframes, my Steam downloads count toward my quota, access to proxies disappear or my speed reduced. Node is perfect for gamers like my partner and I, iiNet is for families, pure and simple.
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