2degrees acquires Snap ISP for complete business offering

2degrees acquires Snap ISP for complete business offering

By Pattrick Smellie

March 23 (BusinessDesk) - 2Degrees, New Zealand's third-largest mobile telecommunications provider, is to acquire Christchurch-based internet service provider, Snap, to allow it to compete more effectively for business customers by offering a full range of mobile, broadband and fixed-line voice telephony using the internet.

The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, formally links the two companies, which have been in a selling partnership arrangement for the past two years, 2degrees chief executive Stewart Sherriff said in a statement ahead of a media briefing in Auckland this morning.

"Snap provides the perfect complement to our mobile offering and will allow us to deliver the total package that our customers - and theirs - have been asking for," he said.

Snap chief executive Mark Petrie will join the 2degrees senior leadership team, heading the merged firms' fixed services division.

Snap describes itself as "one of New Zealand's fastest growing telecommunications providers", concentrated in providing services to businesses and institutions, an area where 2degrees has struggled to grow since establishing its mobile services in 2009, initially targeting pre-paid and consumer markets.

Companies Office records list Petrie and Toby Ross Giles as the directors of Snap Trustees, the shareholding entity for Snap, while Snap's directors are Petrie, Christchurch professional director Bruce Matheson and Katherine Meads, a former director of various Ngai Tahu entitities.

"One thing we've learnt in the last couple of years ... is that there is a limited window of opportunity to win business as the ultra-fast broadband networks are rolled out," said Petrie in the same statement. "A fixed-mobile offer allows us to put our best foot forward and 2degrees is the best company to drive that growth."

The combined businesses will have some 900 staff, including Snap's 120, and the two companies will share office space.

Existing customers of both companies would see no immediate change while back office system integration would occur over time, said Sherriff.

(BusinessDesk)

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