Convergence exits DiData
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Convergence Partners Investments, an investment firm focused on the TMT sector in Africa, has exited its investment in specialist IT services and solutions company, Dimension Data Middle East & Africa (DiData), for an undisclosed sum. Convergence Partners Investments first invested in DiData in 2004 as part of the original DiData B-BBEE transaction and remained invested until June 2017. The contractual investment term ended in September 2016 and Convergence Partners and DiData negotiated a consensual exit to the investment. "Convergence Partners has now fully exited its shareholding in DiData and Andile Ngcaba has stepped down from the various group Boards on which he served and as Executive Chairman of DiData," the firm said in a statement. Convergence Partners continues to invest in TMT companies across sub-Saharan Africa that it believes will deliver enhanced returns for investors, while underpinning continental development. Dimension Data provides IT products and services, and has operations in five territories: Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.
Dimension Data provides IT products and services, and has operations in five territories: Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.
The company has an annual turnover of $7.4bn, and employs 31,000 people in 49 countries.
Dimension Data was acquired by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) for £2.1bn in 2010, and was delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange that year.
Industry speculation suggests that NTT is looking to offload Dimension Data’s African operations, after which the African unit will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
According to an industry source, the deal would only happen in late 2018 if negotiations were successful.