Fueling growth ambitions through its programmatic M&A strategy
Fujitsu Australia today announced it has acquired local Microsoft-specialist, oobe, effective as of Tuesday, 1 February 2022.
The acquisition enables Fujitsu to leverage oobe’s market-leading expertise and experience as a leading Microsoft cloud, modern workplace, and security provider, to accelerate its customers’ digital transformation journeys. This marks the second acquisition by Fujitsu Australia in less than 12 months (the first acquisition being data and AI-consultancy Versor) and is part of Fujitsu’s plan to fulfill its growth ambition through a programmatic M&A strategy.
Founded in 2007, oobe has a services and product portfolio that spans end-user computing, applications, data, cloud and cyber, with a focus on Microsoft and Azure. oobe reinvents how businesses engage with technology providers. Moving beyond traditional systems integration, it empowers teams to deliver real outcomes, faster, through automation and productisation. Its services and products complement Fujitsu’s multi-cloud, work life shift and security services and enable Fujitsu to deliver expanded DX services to existing and new customers of Fujitsu and oobe.
From an industry perspective, whilst this acquisition expands the Fujitsu customer base in multiple focus industries, it creates an unparalleled value proposition in government through the firms’ combined expertise and mature Public Sector and Defence practices. The acquisition will actively stimulate growth opportunities for oobe’s current capabilities into both the local and global stage. It strongly aligns to the Australian Government’s call to increase Australian defence industry capability. The combined approach will see an increase in local jobs across Australia through recently won contracts by both organisations.
oobe will operate as a standalone Fujitsu company, retaining its independent identity and all team members. It will be re-branded ‘oobe, a Fujitsu company’ and will operate under the continued leadership of Stuart Kilduff, who today became a member of the Fujitsu Australia Executive Leadership Team. Integration of the companies’ back-end systems will occur over time.
Graeme Beardsell, Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, said, “I’m delighted to welcome oobe into the Fujitsu family. oobe has an impressive track record with 15 years of experience in developing transformational solutions for government and critical infrastructure at protected-level status. Together, Fujitsu and oobe look forward to accelerating our customers’ digital transformations, delivered through our combined deep-industry experience and specialist teams.”
Stuart Kilduff, Chief Executive Officer, oobe, said, “We’re excited to be joining a global digital transformation company like Fujitsu, with values that strongly align with our own. Through the acquisition, we are gaining the ability to drive greater market impact at significant scale, whilst also retaining our identity as a new part of the Fujitsu Oceania family. We’re proud to be part of the new direction and vision for our brand, and look forward to taking our consulting, services, and solutions to the next level, proudly exporting Australian technology to the world”.
