May 7, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Web hosting provider Iconz (http://www.iconz.co.nz) has spent an eight-figure sum for a majority stake in a pan-Asian Web hoster, a move that will help it to capitalise on Kiwi companies with overseas production plants.
The Auckland-based firm has bought Singapore-based WebVisions, a 150-employee company with offices in 11 Asian countries, including Thailand, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and China. It is primarily a Web-hosting company but also resells Internet connections from regional providers.
Chief operating officer Sean Weekes says the all-cash purchase lets Iconz operate as a "one stop shop" for Kiwi companies looking for Web-hosting or Internet connections for their offices in Southeast Asia and Japan.
Finding a good Web hoster and Internet provider overseas can be a challenge. Mr Weekes says one or two customers each month ask Iconz whether it can provide e-mail, Intranet and hosting services in Asia, particularly in China.
"They would spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get things right," he says. "Before, it'd be difficult to even find a hosting company in China. There's a lot of red tape associated with that. Now that's all disappeared."
The move lets Iconz capitalise on a growing trend for New Zealand companies to move manufacturing to countries with cheaper labour, such as Fisher & Paykel's recent decision to move its washing machine and clothes drier production from Auckland to Thailand.
The deal adds 42,000 customers to Iconz' 95,000. WebVision's clients include subsidiaries of Microsoft, Johnson and Johnson and DaimlerChrysler.
This is by far the largest acquisition to date by Iconz, which has bought New Zealand Web-hosting firms 2day.com and Webfarm.
WebVisions also has an Australian office, which means Iconz can go after hosting and Internet business from trans-Tasman companies.
Iconz is a privately held, 50-employee company with no venture investment.
