The move will provide the European operator with a footprint of nine data centre facilities across Asia, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, as well as access to KVH’s Information Service Platform which serves the ICT services market. It is also thought to further enhance Colt’s ability to serve multinational enterprise customers.
The two companies are said to operate complementary businesses with similar technology and platforms, business models and product sets.
KVH’s business is well known to Colt’s key management. KVH is owned by FMR, FIL and associates of FMR and FIL, which are also shareholders of Colt. In 2009, the two companies partnered to support electronic trading applications for the global financial and securities industry, while in 2013, the two companies partnered to extend KVH’s IaaS cloud services across Europe.
This relationship is expected to assist with the integration process.
“[KVH has] strong capabilities, a significant customer base and great assets, all complementary to our own. This partnership will enable Colt to offer our customers seamless solutions on a global basis and give us a solid platform for growth in Asia,” said Rakesh Bhasin, Colt CEO.
The deal is expected to be fully funded through existing Colt cash resources and committed bank facilities, delivering an estimated annual cost and capex synergies of €8.5m by 2017.
“We look forward to being able to leverage Colt’s operating experience, customer relationships, technology platform and advanced processes, systems and best practices,” said Ted Higase, KVH CEO.
