KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia-based SAP solutions provider ISS Consulting Solutions Berhad has acquired 70 per cent of a Malaysian corporate performance management solutions firm Cogent Consulting Sdn Bhd.
According to ISS Consulting Solutions chief executive officer, Harald Weinbrecht, this acquisition of Cogent would allow the synergistic benefit of shared technology and resources.
Weinbrecht said: “It is a logical extension of our expansion strategy. Leveraging the synergies of this acquisition, we are now able to deliver world-class consolidation and business planning solutions to customers.”
“Business Performance Management helps businesses make efficient use of their financial, human, material and other resources. Cogent’s CPM solutions will complement our ERP offerings and enhance our value proposition to large companies.” Cogent Consulting managing director Chiam Guik Meng said Cogent was “excited to be a part of ISS Consulting’s growth story.”
He said: “ISS is the leading company for mid-sized ERP solutions based on SAP, and Cogent is the leading provider of corporate performance management in Malaysia. Together we can leverage our respective expertise to offer a closed-loop solution to our customers, covering all aspects within an organization from transaction processing to KPI measurements and enhancements.”
Cogent is a SAP Service Partner focusing on consolidation, business planning and simulation, and forecasting of large and mid-sized operations. Cogent Consulting customers include Maybank, Sony, Proton, CIMB Bank and MBF Holdings. The company is a channel partner of Infor, a global provider of business software with more than 70,000 customers and a turnover of US$ 2.1 billion.
The remaining 30 percent of Cogent is owned by Beacon IT Group, an Australia-based, Asia-Pacific focused operation providing corporate performance management & business intelligence for large corporations and government departments.
Beyond Malaysia ISS Consulting’s revenue for the financial year ending 2007 jumped 55 percent to US$11.88 million (RM39.06 million) compared to US$7.69 million (RM25.28 million) in 2006. The earnings are in line with internal forecasts and have kept the company on an incremental revenue curve for the fifth consecutive year; it’s Compounded Annual Revenue Growth (CAGR) from 2003 to 2007 registers an impressive 33 percent.
More than 71 percent of the company’s revenue in 2007 was generated outside Malaysia with Thailand and Singapore recording strong growth of 158 percent and 31 percent respectively. Its business expansion in Singapore was largely due to its acquisition of Ledge Consulting early last year.
Weinbrecht added that Malaysia continued to be a key market for ISS Consulting as there are many opportunities here to tap into while continuing to explore strategic acquisitions to grow the business.
“While we will continue to look at organic growth, acquisitions provide us with the perfect platform to grow our market share in Malaysia and beyond. We will be looking to widen Cogent’s business into Singapore and Thailand next, where we hope to replicate the success Cogent has enjoyed in Malaysia,” he said.
