The e-business division of Burnaby, B.C.-based Telus Corp. announced Monday it is buying the Unix outsourcing division of failed Ottawa company Rebel.com.
The deal, completed through Rebel.com receiver KPMG, will also see Telus assume the company’s outsourcing services contracts. According to Telus officials, the division and its 30 employees will help the company beef up its Unix and IT outsourcing services outside its Western Canada stronghold.
“This acquisition will expand Telus’ Unix capabilities and give us a significant presence in the eastern Canadian market,” said Garry Rasmussen, president of Telus Enterprise Solutions, in a prepared press statement. “It is a reflection of Telus’ continued commitment to become a national leader in IP, data and wireless services.”
In addition, as a certified supplier of Government On-line services to the federal government, company officials said Telus will leverage the Rebel.com buy to offer a fuller suite of IT applications to public sector customers in Ottawa.
Rebel.com, an Ottawa-based networking and hardware company that was partly owned by Corel Corp., and best known for its Linux-based thin client product NetWinder, went into receivership on July 17, yet another victim of the tech industry malaise.
Founded in 1987 as Hardware Canada Computing Inc., the company later adopted its current name (and an expensively licensed “James Dean” logo) and moved its focus from reselling hardware, to offering networking solutions based on technology it purchased from Corel, which owns 25 per cent of Rebel.com.
With the deal, Telus now has more than 300 employees based in Ottawa delivering IT services, according to the company.