Redknee Solutions, a global provider of real-time monetisation and subscriber management software, has reached a definitive agreement to buy beleaguered German software vendor Orga Systems. Paderborn-based Orga Systems had been seeking to stabilise its business since entering insolvency proceedings in April. The EUR38 million deal is set to close in the fourth quarter of 2015. [Update: The acquisition was subsequently completed at the end of July 2015 – Ed.]
According to Redknee, when integrated with its existing real-time charging, policy, billing and customer care platform, the combined product suite will help the vendor accelerate and expand its reach into the growing market for Internet of Things monetisation, which is one of the pillars of Redknee’s long-term growth strategy.
While Redknee and Orga Systems each have a long history of supplying real-time software solutions to communications service providers, both companies have been actively pursuing growth opportunities for their solutions in other vertical markets that require high-volume, real-time transaction processing, including automotive and utilities.
Building on its heritage in delivering mobile real-time prepaid billing solutions, Orga Systems launched its first prepaid billing proposition for utilities in 2010, and has subsequently developed an end-to-end smart prepayment, electricity vending and customer communication solution.
Orga System’s flagship utility project is with the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the Philippines’ largest distribution company, which is using the vendor’s technology to support the roll-out of a voluntary prepaid service as a key part of its smart metering deployment. The prepaid service includes daily balance updates, threshold notifications and payments via mobile phones, and is part of Meralco’s drive to improve revenue assurance and increase consumption transparency for customers. Initially targeting 40,000 homes by the end of 2015, Meralco recently gained regulatory approval to expand its ‘Kuryente Load’ prepaid service to another 100,000 residential customers. This would make it one of the world’s largest smart prepayment deployments and provide a fillip for Redknee’s customer references beyond its core telecommunications business.
Redknee already has some key credentials in the utilities sector. Earlier this year, a major Asia-Pacific conglomerate selected the vendor to support its launch as an energy retailer. The Redknee Connected Suite will rate and bill data from smart meters and home energy management systems in real time and enable the service provider to offer customers real-time insights into their energy consumption. The energy retailer plans to leverage the Connected Suite’s real-time campaign manager to actively influence demand and response for electricity by providing instant benefits such as flash coupons or points that customers can spend in its partner stores and institutions. Customers can access their consumption data and benefits via a dedicated smartphone app and web self-care portal.
Redknee has also teamed up with mobile network operator Digicel to enable the service provider’s customers in Papua New Guinea to buy prepaid electricity top-ups using their mobile phones. This is much more convenient for rural customers, who previously had to travel long distances to vending sites that were only open during business hours.
“We are excited to add and welcome Orga Systems employees, customers, partners and software portfolio to the Redknee family,” said Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO of Redknee. “This acquisition combines two of the leading real-time monetization software companies. We are committed to ensuring the continued success of Orga’s customers, by delivering to them our market-leading technology and services capabilities.”
Mr Skoczkowski added: “As we move forward with the integration, we will leverage our combined product portfolio to expand and enhance our best-of-suite customer focused solutions. We will continue to focus on delivering innovative software solutions. We expect that this acquisition will be accretive and will advance Redknee’s strategy of being the largest independent provider of choice for real-time monetization and subscriber management software. Moreover, we expect that this will help us accelerate Redknee’s expansion into new vertical markets. I look forward to updating the market on the acquisition over the coming months.”