Boston-headquartered carrier services company iBASIS has acquired Dutch IoT platform provider and mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) Simfony for an undisclosed fee. The deal was completed via iBASIS’s highly acquisitive parent company, France-based Tofane Global. The cloud-based Simfony IoT platform, available on subscription (“as-a-service”), promises “rapid time-to-market and elasticity for an unlimited number of connected devices”.
Tofane Global has now acquired “six” (five?) firms in four years, including the 2019 purchase of iBASIS from Netherlands based KPN, which took its revenue past the $1 billion mark. Other acquisitions include the international carrier services (ICS) unit of Portuguese operator NOS last year, as well as a 2018 triple raid on Altice Europe for its ICS divisions in France (SFR ICS), Portugal (MEO ICS), and the Dominican Republic (Altice Dominicana ICS).
All its carrier services businesses have been consolidated in the intervening period under the iBASIS brand. The new deal for Simfony “complements” the iBASIS IoT portfolio, it said, by adding a business management layer to its connectivity offering with remotely programmable SIM (eSIM) management capabilities, creating a “one-stop shop for its customers” and a way to address the mobile operator market.
A statement said: “They now have access to a fully-featured IoT connectivity management platform for eSIMs, from online ordering, provisioning, product catalogue, device lifecycle control, trouble ticketing, online rating, and billing, to account profitability. iBASIS’ expanded IoT offering comes at a time when the IoT market, which is forecasted for double-digit growth in the coming years, is experiencing a surge in demand for reliable and secure networks.”
Simfony has a technology development centre in Romania, which will be retained with the deal, alongside its operations in the Netherlands; the Simfony management team will join iBASIS. Simfony claims “numerous patented technologies in IoT”.
Alexandre Pébereau, chief executive at iBASIS and founder of Tofane Global, said: “After establishing ourselves as a leader through acquisitions in international voice, mobile roaming, and messaging, today’s announcement is an exciting step for us in the world of IoT. By adding Simfony, iBASIS moves up the value chain to the management layer, fast-tracking our plans of becoming a single-source enabler of global IoT connectivity services.”
Joachim de Wild, chief executive and founder at Simfony, said: “We are very excited about joining iBASIS, particularly after working successfully together over the past few years on our global eSIM connectivity partnership… This acquisition opens a new era of possibilities and growth. iBASIS’ expertise and capabilities are undisputed and we’re looking forward to further addressing our customer needs together.”
