M2 Group

Last updated

M2 Group Ltd
Type Public
ASX:  MTU
ISIN AU000000MTU6
Industry Telecommunications
Founded1999 by Vaughan Bowen
DefunctFebruary 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
FateMerged with Vocus Communications
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Area served
 Australia, New Zealand
Key people
Geoff Horth (Chief Executive Officer)

Scott Carter (Chief Operating Officer)

Darryl Inns (Chief Financial Officer)
ProductsWholesale & Retail Telecommunications, Power and Gas, Insurance
RevenueIncrease2.svg A$1.12 billion (FY15)
Number of employees
3300 FTE (2015)
Website www.m2.com.au

M2 Group Ltd was an Australian retailer and wholesaler of telecommunications services as well as power, gas and insurance products.

Contents

On 5 February 2016, M2 Group Ltd merged into Vocus Communications.

History

Established in 1999, M2 Group Ltd (“M2”, ASX: MTU) was a provider of a range of communication, utility and insurance services to Australian households and small businesses. Headquartered in Melbourne, M2 had more than 3000 employees in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. At M2's 2013 Annual General Meeting, shareholders voted to change the company's name from M2 Telecommunications Group Ltd to M2 Group Ltd. [1]

M2's business segment included the Commander and Engin brands, offering a suite of traditional and managed voice and data services and equipment.

Consumer division

The consumer segment, under the brands of Dodo and iPrimus, offered Australian consumers telecommunications services, energy and insurance

Wholesale division

Through the M2 Wholesale division, the firm provides wholesale fixed line, mobile and data telecommunications services to small and medium-sized telecommunications service providers and Internet Service Providers.

M2 was named by BRW Magazine as one of Australia's 100 fastest-growing companies five times between 2003 - 2008, and in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 eight times between 2004 and 2013. [2]

Acquisitions

The company had made several acquisitions, and maintained a diverse portfolio of brands across a range of market segments.

Merger

On 28 September 2015, it was reported that M2 Group and Vocus Communications would merge to create the 3rd largest and 4th largest telecom company in New Zealand and Australia respectively. The resulting company was estimated to be worth US$1.4 billion. [12] After the completion of the merger, M2 CEO Geoff Horth will remain the Chief Executive of the successor group and M2 shareholders will gain a 56% ownership of the new entity. [13] As of 5 February 2016, M2 Group Ltd and Vocus Communications Limited obtained the final court approval to proceed with the merger of the two companies [14] and now trades on the ASX under Vocus. [15]

Related Research Articles

iiNet Australian internet service provider

iiNet Limited is an Australian internet service provider that sells NBN plans and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. It was acquired by TPG Telecom in July 2020.

TPG (ISP) Australian internet service provider

TPG is an Australian internet service provider that specialises in consumer and business internet services as well as mobile telephone services. As of August 2015, TPG is the second largest internet service provider in Australia and is the largest mobile virtual network operator. As such, it has over 671,000 ADSL2+ subscribers, 358,000 landline subscribers and 360,000 mobile subscribers, and owns the second largest ADSL2+ network in Australia, consisting of 391 ADSL2+ DSLAMs. It also operates in New Zealand and Singapore.

Covad Communications Group was an American provider of broadband voice and data communications. By Q3 2006, the company had 530,000 subscribers, and ranked as the 16th largest ISP in the United States. Covad was acquired by U.S. Venture Partners, who in 2010 announced a three-way merger of MegaPath, Covad, and Speakeasy, creating a single Managed Services Local Exchange Carrier (MSLEC), providing voice and internet services; the new company was named MegaPath.

People Telecom

People Telecom is an Australian telecommunications company and subsidiary of Vocus Group. It resells internet access and telephony services. It was founded in 2000 by Ryan O'Hare and Colin Marland.

ECI Telecom

ECI Telecom Ltd is an Israel-based manufacturer of telecommunications equipment that provides packet optical transport products, software-defined networking applications, cybersecurity and professional services.

INNOVATE Corp. is an American public financial services company founded in 1994.

Eftel

Eftel Limited is an internet service provider and telecommunications provider in Australia, with approximately 120,000 active accounts. It was established in 1999. Eftel offers a range of services including: DSL and dial-up Internet access, web hosting and telephony services - to the retail, corporate and wholesale telecommunications markets.

Lingo Management, LLC "Lingo" was founded by Vincent M. Oddo, and partners, in 2018 as a voice and broadband provider based in Macon, Georgia and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Lingo is a global Cloud/UC and managed service provider providing IP-based voice and data, mobile services, and other managed services to the Business, Carrier, and Consumer markets. The Lingo name originates from the Lingo VoIP product line which operated under the Primus Telecommunications brand and later transitioned into a product line of Birch Communications with the acquisition of Primus Telecommunications in 2013. In May 2018, Birch Communications divided into two completely separate companies led by Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc. acquiring the Birch enterprise customer sectors. The remaining customer base formed what is now Lingo Communications, LLC or simply Lingo.

Cision Ltd. is a public relations and earned media software company and services provider. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois; with clients worldwide. The company went public via reverse merger in June 2017. In addition to its web-based PR and earned media software as a service (SaaS) suite the Cision Communications Cloud, the company owns online publicity and media services PRNewswire, PRWeb, Bulletin Intelligence, L'Argus de la presse, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), CEDROM-SNI, Prime Research, and Canada Newswire. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

Vocus Group Australian telecommunications company

Vocus Group Limited, formerly known as Vocus Communications, is an international telecommunications company headquartered in North Sydney, Australia. Founded by James Spenceley as a wholesale, business, government and consumer telecommunications provider, Vocus owns and manages Australia's second largest intercapital fibre network. Vocus provides retail, wholesale and corporate telecommunications services across Australia and New Zealand. Vocus offers data network services such as Internet, dark fibre, IP WAN, unified communications and telephony and cloud services to mid, large and corporate businesses direct and also acts as a wholesaler. The company owns and operates 18 data centres across Australia and New Zealand and has an onshore network operations centre run by the engineers who built the network.

Primus Telecommunications (Australia) Australian subsidiary of the telecommunications provider

iPrimus is an Australian telecommunications company and wholly owned subsidiary of Vocus Communications.

TPG Telecom Limited, formerly Vodafone Hutchison Australia and renamed following the merger with TPG, is an Australian telecommunications company. It is the second largest telecommunications company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. TPG Telecom is the third-largest wireless carrier in Australia, with 5.8 million subscribers as of 2020.

CallPlus was a telecommunications company providing phone, calling, internet, mobile and advanced connectivity services to New Zealand businesses. Since 2016, CallPlus has been part of the Vocus Group, which is the third-largest telecommunications company in New Zealand, and fourth-largest in Australia.

Speedcast is an Australian company specializing in communications satellite technology. According to their website, they claim to have "more satellite capacity than any other service provider combined with an extensive multi-technology terrestrial and offshore network ." Speedcast has grown through organic and inorganic growth to be one of the major satellite service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and Africa regions; with a global maritime network serving customers worldwide. The company serves over 350 customers across more than 2,000 terrestrial sites in approximately 50 countries, and more than 1,187 maritime vessels and offshore rigs.

ClubTelco is an Australian Telecommunications and Internet Service Provider founded in 2010, that provides telecommunications services to consumers and small businesses around Australia. Competing with the likes of Telstra, Optus, iiNet, Dodo and Internode. ClubTelco's is owned by Vocus Group, a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange. It serves over 120,000 customers.

Viatel is a Dublin-based telecoms operator.

Dodo Services

Dodo Services Pty Ltd, trading as Dodo, is an Australian Internet service provider, based in Melbourne, and a fully owned subsidiary of Vocus Communications.

MyNetFone Australia Pty Ltd is part of the MNF Group.(ASX: MNF) that owns and operates Australia's largest VoIP network, which is also the 3rd largest interconnected voice network in the country. MyNetFone provides broadband internet and cloud-based communication services to residential, business and government sectors.

Birch Communications was an American provider of IP-based communications, network broadband, cloud computing, and information technology services to small, mid-sized, enterprise and wholesale business customers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It was acquired by Fusion Connect in 2018 and integrated into the company. Founded in 1996 in the wake of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, several years later the company began acquiring other telecom companies in an effort to increase its network size and service offerings. Birch Communications raised $77.5 million in funding in 2011, and $110 million in funding in 2012 after it financed a new $90 million facility.

James Spenceley

James Spenceley is an Australian investor, entrepreneur and company director. He is the founder of Vocus Communications and an active Venture Capital investor. He is also the Chairman of Airtasker (ASX:ART) and a Non-Executive Director of Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) as well as ASX listed Think Childcare Limited (ASX:TNK).

References

  1. ↑ "Investors | Vocus Group" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "Deloitte | Technology Fast 50: 2012 Winners' Report". Archived from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Acquisition of WCG". iTWire. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "M2 completes acquisition of Tenex". M2 Telecommunications. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "M2 Telecommunications to buy Orion". Wireless Federation.
  6. ↑ "M2 agrees to acquire People Telecom" (PDF). ASX.
  7. ↑ "M2 buys Commander SMB unit in 'strategic coup'". Fairfax.
  8. ↑ "M2 buys Primus". Fairfax.
  9. ↑ "M2 buys Dodo, launches takeover bid for Eftel". Fairfax.
  10. ↑ "M2 closes Eftel offer". Computerworld.
  11. ↑ "M2 to Acquire Call Plus Group & 2Talk" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Stewart, Robb M. "Vocus, M2 Group Plan Merger", Wall Street Journal, 27 September 2015. Accessed 3 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Ryan, Holly. "M2 merger to create NZ's 3rd biggest telco", NZ Herald, 28 September 2015. Accessed 3 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Vocus and M2 Merger Approved · Vocus Communications". 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  15. ↑ "Investors | Vocus Communications". www.vocus.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.