JSE-listed technology company Jasco is selling its property technology division for R7, 5 million.
The company said Jasco Networks has entered into a sale of business agreement with Reach Group.
Reach Group will acquire, the business of professional ICT infrastructure management
services, in the Property Technology Management division.
The Property Technology Management business model has become stale to Jasco and a non-core business unit, leading to threats of insourcing and continuous price reduction pressures from clients and increased administrative burden of the business.
The Property Technology Management business is increasingly under pricing pressures from the major property companies in the current environment where their traditional gross lettable area (GLA) rental income is under severe pressures.
Property Technology Management was a start-up business in 2013 when Mark Swemmer together with his consultancy company Wi-Cloud P had started consulting to Jasco,
who had adequate know-how and access to property owners and managers nationally.
Combining Swemmer’s property management experience with Jasco’s design, planning, installation and managing of ICT infrastructure and converged solutions, which allowed landlords access to a turnkey solution.
The Property Technology Management start-up venture formed part of the Seller and Jasco saw the potential to gain access to buildings and landlords in order to upsell other Jasco Group products and services.
To date very little and few opportunities however came about for other Jasco Group lines of
business.
Today the Property Technology Management business is a professional services business that enables property owners to leverage their existing rooftops, enhance their alternate revenue streams and offer a complete turnkey ICT Infrastructure management solution to landlords and property managers typically focused on rooftops and outdoor areas of buildings.
The Property Technology Management service includes lease management, infrastructure database and site audit, energy consumption, labelling schemes, installation authorisation procedures, quality control, aesthetics, health and safety, regulatory compliance, rooftop container management, cellular operator towers and masts, as well as cabling.
The Property Technology Management business currently manages more than 650 properties across South Africa and is a very administratively intensive business.
The Reach Group was established by Mark Swemmer with his vast experience in property
development, ownership and management, coupled with his telecommunications legal background and along with his dynamic team of specialists.
Swemmer approached Jasco to initiate a management buy-out of the Property Technology Management business as a going concern together with his group-owned companies, namely Wi-Cloud, Blue Nightingale Properties and Twoline Trading 529 Proprietary, which subsequently led to the sale of business agreement that has been entered into between Jasco, the Purchaser and the Parties.
Swemmer explains that he created The Reach Group, along with a dynamic team of specialists, to allow telecoms operators and wireless services providers to gain access to buildings’ rooftops, towers and outdoor areas. This enables telecoms service providers to extend their coverage, providing consumers with multiple broadband, telecommunications, fibre, LTE and 5G services.
“Many commercial buildings such as shopping centres and office blocks house a variety of different wireless telecommunications infrastructure. These can include towers, antennas, Digital Antenna Systems (DAS), cabinets, satellite dishes and transceivers, among others, typically located on rooftops and within buildings,” says Swemmer.
“However, managing this complex environment effectively can be challenging. Landlords often struggle to ensure optimal space utilisation for communications infrastructure, lack adequate knowledge of technical site installation requests, as well as battle to ensure that energy consumption costs are recouped. Furthermore, they are not aware of the revenue generation opportunities that could exist.”
The Reach Group is ideally positioned to address these challenges by simplifying complexity and providing a complete managed solution via a single point of contact. This enables landlords and property managers to actively manage and leverage their existing rooftop space and outdoor areas to enhance revenues from alternative leasing areas.
Swemmer further says that given its long-established and close relationships within the telecoms and real estate communities, Jasco will continue to be The Reach Group’s preferred technology partner going forward.
This partnership will unlock substantial value to all stakeholders where The Reach Group is the primary point of contact between all landlords, property managers and telecoms tenants. These include Mobile Network Operator (MNOs), telecoms and fibre infrastructure providers, as well as wireless services providers to mention a few.
“Telecoms tenants can rest assured that when dealing with a Reach Group-managed property, the entire process becomes quicker and smarter. We can assist tenants with their entire journey, from site access, site installation design and planning surveys to lease agreements – right up to the point when they are ready to install their infrastructure,” says Swemmer.
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