Magnet Business today announced that it has acquired Irish internet telephony provider, Glantel, for an undisclosed sum. As a result of this acquisition, and the expected growth in demand for its new suite of voice and data services, Magnet is presently seeking to create 10 new jobs. New hires include product managers, engineers and sales personnel.
Glantel, a two year old start-up, has already established a strong name for itself in the growing business market for converged Voice and Data services*, counting among its customers well known names such as Directski.com, BookAssist and the Sports Surgery Clinic.
The company was founded by experienced telecom executives Declan Murphy and Darren O’Donohoe after the pair spotted a gap in the market to develop quality broadband based telephone systems for SMEs. With the help of development funding from Enterprise Ireland the company set up offices in The Digital Hub and reached profitability within 18 months.
Commenting on the deal for Magnet, Donal Hanrahan, Corporate Development Director, said: “Magnet is a high growth company - growth through innovation, strategic acquisition and broadening the range of quality communications services for our customers. We recognised in Glantel that same drive and enthusiasm for innovation, to take the best technologies available and develop them into real products and services. Specifically Glantel have in a very short space of time become the leading provider of converged voice and data solutions to the SME market - a technology and market expertise that complimented our own plans in that area.”
Hanrahan continues: “The acquisition expands Magnet Business’s converged voice and data capabilities and brings additional engineering expertise and business acumen to the Magnet Business team.”
The deal will involve Glantel’s customers migrating to Magnet’s advanced high-speed network, while Glantel’s staff will join the Magnet Business sales and engineering teams. Glantel will, with immediate effect, transition to operate under the Magnet Business brand.
The Glantel team has extensive telecoms experience, gained while working with leading international telecommunications companies including AT&T. Speaking of the deal, Glantel co-founder Darren O’Donohoe said: “Bringing Glantel within Magnet provides us with access to a significant installed base, Ireland’s most advanced network, a large sales staff and a superior engineering team. For a technology start-up such as ourselves the opportunity to leverage off those assets was too good to pass up.”
Co-founder Declan Murphy added: “Our customers have also gained through access to superior support structures, customer service and account management.”
Magnet has a history of acquiring early stage companies and successfully merging them into its operations. In 2005 the company bought wireless broadband provider Leap and later added Internet Services Provider (ISP) Netsource to compliment its business division.
Magnet Networks is part of Columbia Ventures Corporation (CVC) owned by entrepreneur Ken Peterson. CVC's telecoms interests worldwide include the ownership of US facilities-based telecoms operator One Communications, the largest individual shareholding in Scottish telecom company Thus Telecom, and ownership of the Dublin based transatlantic fibre-optic cable operator Hibernia Atlantic
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For further information, please contact:
Julie O’Donnell, Bvisible Communications, www.bvisible.ie, julie@bvisible.ie, 01-8452401, 087-1214913
Bernice Burnside, Bvisible Communications, www.bvisible.ie, bernice@bvisible.ie, 01-8452408, 087-2337366
Editors note:
In Ireland VoIP adoption by corporate sector is predicted to grow considerably. iReach anticipates that that in 2008 VoIP spending will reach €138million amongst businesses in Ireland, as a result of growing market demand for video conferencing and converged communication applications.
A March 2008 ComReg survey conducted by Millward Brown IMS (http://comreg.ie/_
About Magnet Business
Magnet Business, the business services division of Magnet Networks, was established to provide broadband connectivity and internet services to Irish SOHO, SME and corporate customers nationwide. As well as having 39 unbundled exchanges nationwide enabling it to provide advanced xDSL based services including SHDSL and ADSL2+ the company has an extensive fibre based network in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Portlaoise.
Magnet Business also offers standard DSL and Wireless broadband, security solutions, online backup, managed email, hosting, teleworking and remote access solutions. These services are available both directly and through a channel partner base consisting of IT maintenance companies, systems integrators and telcos. Magnet Business was established following Columbia Ventures Corporation (CVC) acquisition of wireless specialist Leap Broadband and business ISP Netsource.
CVC is the parent company of Magnet Networks and currently holds extensive business and telecommunications interests in the US, Europe and Australia. Other CVC assets in Ireland include Dublin-based Hibernia Atlantic, owner/operator of a 12,200 km-long transatlantic fiber-optic network connecting the UK, US, Canada and Dublin. The CVC group companies serve over 160,000 business customers across the US, Ireland and UK networks.
More information can be found at www.magnetbusiness.ie
