Global consulting firm Synechron buys two major tech firms

Synechron continues its acquisition spree in Australia, buying two related tech firms with about 200 staff, adding to its iGreendata purchase earlier this year.

Chamonix’s Scott Grigg and Geoff Rohrsheim.

Global consulting giant Synechron has acquired two major Adelaide technology firms, in what is the fourth successful exit for one of the founders of Chamonix IT and Exposé Data.

New York-headquartered Synechron, which employs about 15,000 people globally, announced its acquisition of the firms for an undisclosed sum this week, with both purchases requiring sign off from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Synechron earlier this year also announced the acquisition of Melbourne-based iGreendata.

Chamonix, which was founded in 2010 by Geoff Rohrsheim, current chief executive Scott Grigg and other partners, employs about 150 people, while related company Exposé, which was founded in 2016, employs about 50.

Mr Rohrsheim in 2016 sold Kloud, his cloud-computing business, to Telstra for $40m, with Kloud co-founder Jamie Potter also involved in the launch of Chamonix.

The recent sales are Mr Rohrsheim’s fourth successful exit, having previously sold Strategic Data Management to DWS in 2008 and Quadrant Private Equity buying a stake in his companies Cevo and Arinco in 2022.

Mr Rohrsheim said Synechron was good fit for the consulting firms, and he would stay on the board of the local arm.

“We’ve had a lot of suitors, a lot of people wanting to buy us over the years,’’ he said.

Mr Rohrsheim said Synechron was very much driven by co-founder and chief executive Faisal Husian, who the Chamonix and Expose teams got along with, and who was looking to grow the businesses.

Mr Rohrsheim said the deal would provide excellent career pathways for the Australian team, and the ability to extend their work in cutting edge areas such as AI research.

“It’s good for South Australia to show that for some of these start-ups around Lot Fourteen, this is the end point – an exit of some sort whether it’s a trade sale, an IPO or a partial sale,’’ Mr Rohrsheim said.

Chamonix, which is based at the Lot Fourteen sinnovation district in Adelaide, provides digital transformation services for enterprise-level and public sector clients.

Exposé works in related but slightly different sectors.

“Chamonix IT’s founders established Exposé as a new company in 2016 to bring the same level of expertise, this time focused specifically on data science and engineering, data modelling and visualisation, and artificial intelligence,’’ the companies said.

“The two organisations will join Synechron’s core digital transformation consulting business alongside recently acquired iGreenData, which expanded Synechron’s data and blockchain expertise in the financial services sector.

“With these additions Synechron has effectively doubled its presence in the country, achieving coverage across major sectors.

“This strategic positioning allows the company to capitalise on the growing information technology investment in Australia encompassing software as a service, IT services, and analytics, while simultaneously enhancing its ability to offer support and solutions across Asia, the Americas, and Europe.’’

Mr Grigg and Exposé chief executive Kelly Drewett will stay with the businesses post-acquisition.

“Becoming part of the Synechron family represents a massive opportunity,’’ Ms Drewett said.

“It accelerates our ability to innovate and empowers our employees to take on even more complex challenges on behalf of our clients.”

Technology Holdings acted as the financial adviser to Chamonix IT and Exposé on the transaction.

Synechron has 55 offices across 20 countries and works across a broad range of technology areas such as artificial intelligence, consulting, digital, cloud, data, and software engineering.

Mr Husian said the acquisitions would bring fresh expertise and capabilities to the group.

“This move will enhance our service offerings and drive significant value, strengthening our strategy of continuous innovation and client-focused solutions,’’ he said.

The iGreendata acquisition was announced in May, with that company specialising in cloud-enabled data and digital engineering, servicing blue-chip clients with particular expertise in the banking and financial services sectors.

Originally published as Global consulting firm Synechron buys two major tech firms