The merged organisation will adopt the Fujitsu name (although the Infinity name may be retained for some offerings) and will have a combined staff of 530. Just over 300 of those staff are from Infinity.
The transaction is subject to approval at a shareholder meeting in mid-October, when the management and organisational structure is set to be finalised.
Fujitsu Australia/New Zealand CEO Rod Vawdrey says the firms are complementary in a number of ways.
“With the tough labour market in New Zealand, we want to grow our business quite dramatically so you look for inorganic opportunities as well as organic opportunities.
“We have a strong infrastructure business, but we want to expand in our software and services group. We also wanted broader geographic coverage – at the moment we’re strong in Wellington and reasonably strong in Auckland, but not as much in other parts of New Zealand.”
He says the combined scale, industry knowledge and capabilities in consulting, application services and infrastructure are a solid platform for growth, and will allow the new business to compete more effectively.
Vawdrey doesn’t expect job losses as a result of the deal, although he says some ‘back office’ roles may be re-deployed to assist the enlarged business if there is duplication. “This is about growth and expanding, not cost savings,” he says.
Infinity CEO Stuart Robb has resigned and will move to a commercial and financial role with the New Zealand Rugby Union. Robb says he was given the opportunity to work with the union prior to the merger.
Robb agrees the two firms are complementary. “It opens up opportunities to do a broader range of work and some bigger pieces of work. Infinity limited itself to work of about two to three million dollars, but now we can pursue substantially larger pieces of work and genuinely have the capability and financial strength.”
He will remain with the new organisation until November to ensure a smooth merger.
The merger will give Infinity staff more options, as they will have wider job opportunities within Fujitsu locally and internationally, says Robb, adding he has received positive feedback from Infinity customers and staff.
Axon CEO Scott Green says his company has been aware for some time that Fujitsu has wanted to grow by acquisition here and strengthen its name.
However, he says it is too early to tell whether the new organisation will add value to customers.
“They have been pointed at different areas of the market, Fujitsu has been in the public sector and more enterprise customers. Infinity has been in the corporate market and the small and medium part of the businesses. They get synergies from combining, but whether that makes them more effective in those respective market is a little bit unclear.”
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