Storm integration fast-tracked

Johannesburg, 04 Feb 2008

The integration of Storm Telecom into Vox Telecom's three operating divisions should take about a month, says executive chairman Tony van Marken.

Last week, Vox Telecom told shareholders that the R360 million acquisition had received all outstanding approvals and was unconditional.

Now Van Marken says the company's attention has turned to integrating the company "quickly and effectively".

"Storm's business is in the process of being merged into our Orion, DataPro and @tlantic operating divisions. Reporting lines have already been established and we will begin interviewing Storm's staff this week to see where they can fit into our business," he explains.

At this stage, it is not clear whether any of the 118 remaining Storm staffers will lose their jobs as part of this process.

"There was a certain amount of attrition that reduced the number of Storm staffers following the initial announcement. Additionally, we have open positions across the group, so there certainly are opportunities. We are excited about the company and the people; there are a good number of great technical skills within Storm," reveals Van Marken.

Storm CEO Willem van Rensburg will stay with Vox for three months to smooth the transition. It is unknown whether Van Rensburg - who left Business Connexion during Telkom's failed bid for the company - has found alternative employment.

Meanwhile, Van Marken says the integration of Absa Internet Access into its DataPro and @tlantic divisions has already been completed. This acquisition became unconditional in mid-December.

"We have learnt from the acquisitions we have done in the past and so are able to speedily implement the integrations of new businesses. Quite frankly, we want to get these acquisitions up and running as soon as possible; our investors expect nothing less," he concludes.