RIB closed the second MTWO MSP Partnership Agreement and strategic investment
Brisbane, Australia, 26 September 2018. RIB Software SE, the world’s leading provider of iTWO 5D BIM Cloud enterprise platform technology for the building, construction and infrastructure industry, today announced the successful conclusion of the second MTWO MSP (Managed Service Provider) partnership and investment agreement with A2K Technologies, a Microsoft certified partner operating in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). This investment follows RIB’s previous investment in ICS in America and continues the MTWO initiative with Microsoft subsequent to the capital increase in H1 2018 to build up the world’s No.1 vertical cloud for the construction industry, which accounts for USD$ 10 trillion or 14% of the global GDP according to McKinsey Global Institute report on construction industry.
A2K is headquartered in Brisbane and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand. As part of the investment, A2K will build a sizable team focused solely on delivering MTWO to their existing client base which includes major construction companies throughout Australia and New Zealand. This investment represents an efficient approach for RIB and MTWO as A2K are already highly skilled in the construction space and will be expanding Microsoft Azure capabilities in their existing portfolio. This approach is expected to deliver 10,000 MTWO users by early 2020 in a short-term manner and 100,000 MTWO users in the mid-term. The target customers for MTWO are, in most cases, existing clients of A2K.
Under the agreement, RIB will invest a total of AUD$ 14.07 million (approx. USD$ 10.05 million at an exchange rate of 1.4 AUD$/USD) to acquire 40% of A2K and PhoenxPLM shares based on an EV to 2018/19 EBITDA multiple of 7.5. PhoenxPLM is an entity associated with A2K. It is the only Gold Certified Siemens PLM Partner in the ANZ area. Amongst the total investment, AUD$ 11.70 million (approx. USD$ 8.36 million) will be used to acquire 40% of A2K shares, out of which AUD$ 2.20 million (approx. USD$ 1.57 million) will be utilized to build and develop the MTWO team across the ANZ region and position MTWO as the leading vertical cloud for the ANZ building and infrastructure market. Australia and New Zealand both own a very large construction and infrastructure market because of the size and the mining and resources industry. The annual consolidated CAPEX and OPEX spending in building, infrastructure and mining has reached a remarkable level like countries of UK, France and Germany in the past decades. Part of the total investment, AUD$ 2.37 million (approx. USD$ 1.69 million), will be used to acquire 40% of PhoenxPLM shares, out of which AUD$ 450,000 (approx. USD$ 321,429) will be used for collaboration on smart production with MTWO.
Since April of 2018, RIB and Microsoft has joined forces to deliver MTWO – the world’s No.1 vertical cloud for the construction and real estate industry, aiming to help enterprises in the industry to drive productivity gains through digital transformation. In order to accelerate the international roll-out of the MTWO technology, RIB is committed to developing its global MSP partner network and leveraging Microsoft’s partner community to win 100,000 users by 2020 and 2 million users in the midterm. The strategic partnership with A2K executes a great step towards RIB’s target to develop 3-5 MSPs this year.
Tom Wolf, Chairman and CEO of RIB, commented: “The RIB investment in A2K is another exciting development in our push to build the largest vertical cloud with MTWO through the Microsoft MSP network. Our A2K investment in September follows our ICS investment in August and will now give us extensive access in the Australian and New Zealand marketplace. RIB will continue executing our 2018 GTM strategy and integrate MSP partners in other areas of the world to offer the MTWO platform to more construction and real estate companies to offer access to our iTWO Technology to at least 80% of the global market.
“A2K has a long history of introducing and adding value to the newest technology for AEC and EPC industry. The MTWO vertical cloud is exactly what our 100,000 ANZ user base is waiting for and we are excited about this opportunity. A2K is known for delivering new technology as promised and MTWO will be a key solution”, stated Paul Laycock, CEO of A2K Technologies.
About A2K Technologies
Founded in 1986, A2K Technologies fosters innovation through delivering software and hardware solutions, consulting, training, development and managed services. Covering the entire ANZ region, A2K has become a trusted technology advisor to their customers through the breadth and depth of their service offering, technical expertise and high levels of customer service and understanding.
About PhoenxPLM
PhoenxPLM is a leading Solutions Provider for the manufacturing sector in Australian and New Zealand. It has offices based in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, backed by a team of highly skilled hands on technical experts. PhoenxPLM is the only Gold Certified Siemens PLM Partner in Australia and New Zealand, which provides unrivalled knowledge and services to support Siemens PLM’s NX portfolio and Teamcenter PLM software solutions.