PBS acquires El Savador IT company
Published:Sunday | December 22, 2019 | 12:18 AM
Productive Business Solutions Limited (PBS), the distributor of Xerox printing products, has acquired the 100 per cent shareholding in El Salvador-based company, Hightech Corporation (HTC).
Hightech Corporation offers business architecture, web development, consulting and IT support services throughout El Salvador’s banking, telecommunications system, government institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The acquisition is expected to strengthen PBS’s Advanced Services and Solutions division with the addition of HTC’s team which spans more than 100 information technology professionals.
Recently appointed Vice-President of Advanced Services and Solutions at PBS, Mauricio Naranjo, will have responsibility for HTC at the Group level.
“This strategic acquisition represents an ideal fit. Very few companies can match PBS’s IT services offerings as a result. The acquisition of HTC will also bring synergies to other parts of PBS’s business in El Salvador,” CEO of PBS Group Pedro París said in a release from the company. The cost of the transaction was not disclosed.
PBS provides IT and networking solutions such as Xerox, Cisco, Oracle, Quadient to more than 15 countries. HTC itself is an authorised Oracle and Redhat learning centre for the region and services a global clientele.
Combined, HTC is expected to grow its clientele through PBS’s presence in more than 15 countries.
“We´re delighted with this transaction as it will allow us to accelerate our growth, regional presence, and ability to expand our research and development capabilities to help our clients drive agility, and new capabilities into their businesses,” said David Morales, general manager-partner of HTC.
PBS acquisition of the El Salvador-based company forms part of a push to acquire operations that will complement its business model and ultimately grow its business.
The company, which has been trying to secure an acquisition in Colombia after building its own operation in the country in 2017, in September announced that it was working on a series of projects’ including a regional acquisition to grow its business. Currently, the bulk of PBS’s sales come from Guatemala, Nicaragua – which formerly stood as its second largest revenue market, El Salvador and Costa Rica. But the company is bullish on Colombia due to its size in GDP, which is larger than the other individual markets in which PBS does business.
Earlier this year, PBS saw its profit crumbling largely from the political unrest in Nicaragua. However, for its third quarter ending September 2019, PBS grew revenues to US$47.1 million, compared to US$43.4 million a year earlier. The company’s losses declined to US$102,000 for the quarter compared to September 2018 losses of US$1.4 million, according to its unaudited results.
PBS distributes Xerox printing products, but it also holds a series of distributorships for other brands. Its services segment includes document solutions; border security; network and IT security solutions; multichannel communication solutions; and smartcard, cash, and electronic solutions. The company was founded in 2001 as a division of Musson to acquire the business and assets of Xerox Corporation in Jamaica.