Artilium buys up Digiweb's Belgium business

Telecommunications software and solutions provider Artilium announced the acquisition of the Belgian customer base of Digiweb Telecom through its wholly-owned subsidiary United Telecom on Monday, for an undisclosed sum.

The AIM-traded firm said Digiweb provides internet access, fixed line and mobile products and services to residential and business customers.

Digiweb was established in 2001 and had grown both organically and through acquisition to become one of Ireland's foremost telecoms companies, Artilium explained.

In Belgium, Digiweb has acquired and consolidated residential and small-to-medium-enterprise customer bases from TalkTalk Belgium and Mondial Telecom within its DT Belgium subsidiary.

The Artilium board said the acquisition consisted of approximately 8,000 customers and was equivalent to €1m in revenue per year with an average 34% gross margin.

It said 80% of the revenue was derived from fixed line voice services.

The acquisition would also include all necessary equipment alongside the customer contracts which would reside in United Telecom.

Artilium said the rationale for the acquisition was that it would create scale in customer operations in terms of buying power and volume, increases margins on the customers as United Telecom had better buying conditions, and the fact the customer base did not require additional human resources, therefore creating “immediate value”.

Consideration for the acquisition has been settled in cash and through the issue of 1,601,315 new ordinary shares of 5p each at a price of 6.69p per ordinary share, being the mid-market close price of Artilium's ordinary shares on 17 May.

“I am delighted by this opportunity to acquire such a significant customer base from Digiweb,” said Artilium chief executive Bart Weijermars.

“This acquisition adds scale to our growing customer operations in terms of buying power and volume without the need for additional human resources, thereby creating immediate value.”