Canon Australia has acquired a majority stake in managed services and Cloud solutions provider, Harbour IT.
According to a company statement, the acquisition, the biggest by Canon in the Oceania region, enables both businesses to share Cloud-based and managed IT solutions across their respective customer bases.
"The move will also strengthen Canon’s technology and end-to-end managed services customer proposition," according to a statement.
"Canon is recognised for its customer-focused solutions and market leading technology and services, while Harbour IT is an established IT services provider, known for its superior Cloud platform and innovative offerings for managing complex IT environments.
"The decision to acquire a stake in Harbour IT will ensure Canon continues to grow its business by delivering value-based solutions to the market, enabling customers to achieve more, beyond technology alone."
Canon Australia managing director, Taz Nakamasu, said Canon had had significant success in the managed services market over a number of years.
"Our customers include some of Australia's most iconic brands," he said.
"Bringing Harbour IT into the Canon fold means we can offer a greater portfolio of managed services to both customer bases.”
Harbour IT will remain a standalone business and brand, with the same management team and structure. Harbour IT will retain its independence and management autonomy to continue to deliver to customers, while benefiting from Canon’s investment, brand, leadership and product suite.
Harbour IT managing director, Craig Bishop, said the company was extremely excited to be joining the Canon family and felt it was a natural fit and logical next step in our continued growth as a managed IT services and cloud provider in the Australian market.
"We believe the opportunity to bring together complementary product offerings of both businesses will significantly broaden our existing portfolios, making this a fantastic move for our customers and our people,” he said.
Craig Manson will assume overall leadership for the relationship with Harbour IT, while Josh Watts - general Manager - will also be appointed to manage the day-to-day relationship, creating synergy between the two businesses.
Harbour IT will become part of the Canon Group on October 1, 2014.
The Sydney-based company has 180 employees based in five locations across the region, with an expected revenue for FY15 of $35 million.
Over the last two years Canon reviewed potential IT and BPO businesses in a bid to further build its capabilities as a business services provider.
The synergies between the two companies extend beyond the product offerings and will leverage the strong cultural and brand alignment of both businesses, according to a company statement.
Canon business services director, Craig Manson, said partnering with Harbour IT would strengthen Canon’s offering as a business critical services provider.
"Harbour IT, with its focus on cloud computing, IT solutions and managed services, as well as geographical reach across five locations in the region does exactly that," he said.
"Canon’s leadership and knowledge, along with Harbour IT’s specialist skills and experience in managed IT services will deliver strong synergies, helping to meet and exceed the needs of customers across both companies now and into the future.”
