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Leading Australian ICT training agency DDLS has acquired NZ-based Auldhouse to expand its services across the Tasman.
The acquisition was valued at $16.6 million, and is expected increase DDLS’ yearly student enrolment by nearly 10,000.
Auldhouse, which has been operating for 30 years, currently services three campuses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, which will join DDLS’ seven campuses in Australia and the Philippines.
According to DDLS, the acquisition is expected to broaden the training services provided by the company, with additional training options available to students from leading software companies including Microsoft, AWS, VMware and Google.
Auldhouse counts among its client base the New Zealand Defence Force, Auckland Transport and Spark NZ.
Jon Lang, chief executive at DDLS, outlined that both companies have successfully navigated the difficulties of the recent COVID-19 pandemic to deliver their ICT training services.
“With organisations rapidly migrating to the cloud, along with the increasing importance placed on cyber security, we’re seeing the demand for digital skills are at an all-time high across the ANZ region,” Lang said.
“We are very excited about the opportunities this acquisition will afford our customers across the region with increased digital product offerings, a larger range of course events, a deeper pool of highly experienced and credentialled trainers, and the infrastructure across DDLS and Auldhouse to support continued growth.
“The move also marked a significant step in DDLS’s objective of growing internationally into the greater APAC region, adding breadth to its expansion strategy with presence in Australia, Philippines and now New Zealand.”
Melanie Hobcraft, managing director of Auldhouse, outlined that the company will be able to leverage DDLS scale to continue its growth in the country.
“Auldhouse has a presence in New Zealand’s three largest cities. There is no other IT training provider that can match our geographic reach, breadth, depth, and regularity of public scheduled courses. We’ll be able to expand this significantly with DDLS vendor and course offerings, including its industry leading cybersecurity training. And with the majority of DDLS courses now offered virtually in Australia, we’ll easily be able to tap into its much larger offering,” Hobcraft said.
[Related: Elastic acquires build.security to enhance Cloud Native Security support]