Privately-held local network infrastructure firm Interconnect Systems has announced its executive team has bought out the share of the company held by its remaining co-founder, Tai van Aswegen.
The transaction will be effective on 31 March.
The organisation was founded in 1986 by the team of Willie van Aswegen, Johan Bothma and Tai van Aswegen.
Herman de Vries, CEO of Interconnect Systems, tells ITWeb via e-mail its headquarters are in Randburg, Johannesburg, and it also has offices across South Africa.
He notes it is now looking to establish additional branches to support its industrial and mining clients, specifically in the North West, Limpopo and Northern Cape.
“The management buyout is important because it gives our highly-experienced executive team a real stake in the business, something that’s particularly important as we are experiencing significant growth, which we expect to continue for the foreseeable future,” says De Vries.
“Although we are a relatively young team, the new shareholders [combined] have well over 100 years of experience and a strong commitment to growing the company.”
Interconnect focuses on the corporate network infrastructure market and has a base of blue-chip clients which it services through 17 branches across SA.
In 2022, the company delivered 11% turnover growth and De Vries expects the 2023 figure to be in excess of 35%.
According to the firm, this high growth is fuelling a search for experienced and motivated talent. It aims to reach a headcount of 471 − a 17% increase on its 2021 total of 420 employees.
It explains this growth can be attributed to renewed investment in the firm’s network infrastructure by big corporates, much of it driven by the need to mitigate the risk associated with prolonged load-shedding.
Interconnect has installed more than 1 500 inverters and batteries over the past two years.
It adds that another important consequence of the management buyout is that it now becomes a level two B-BBEE contributor. It is now 51% black-owned and 31% black-female-owned.
De Vries says exceeding 50% black ownership will entitle the company to bid for government work, which represents a significant potential market.
In terms of the buyout, Van Aswegen will step down as chairman, though he will remain as an exclusive consultant.
Existing Interconnect Systems board member Joe Monakali has been appointed chairperson as of 1 April.
He and fellow current board member Dr Candice Booysen are joined by new members Pierre van Aswegen and Eugene Lamb. De Vries remains in his role as CEO and reports to the board of directors.
“These are exciting times for Interconnect and our clients, as we build on our 37 years of experience to further consolidate our position as South Africa’s leading provider of network infrastructure,” De Vries says.
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