NCS has continued its strategic expansion across Australia with its fourth investment in 15 months.
The Singapore-based company acquired Australian firm ARQ Group for A$290 million in March 2022. Based in Melbourne, ARQ Group is one of Australia's fastest-growing digital services companies. Its clients include half of the top 20 companies on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Strategic investments in Australia
ARQ Group is the latest in a series of investments by NCS in Australia. The company acquired Australia's largest privately owned IT company The Dialog Group for A$325 million in early March 2022. It was NCS' largest investment in Australia to date.
Earlier, NCS had acquired Riley, an Australian cloud consultancy with expertise in Google cloud applications. The company also made a majority investment in Eighty20 Solutions, a cloud transformation specialist. These two investments gave NCS a 'best-of-cloud' service portfolio.
'This latest acquisition completes a jigsaw of strategic investments in Australia, ramping up our presence in a market that is critical to our regional expansion,' says Mr Ng Kuo Pin, CEO of NCS.
'Taken together, our four investments to date have given us the necessary scale, capabilities and credibility to compete as a regional digital powerhouse as we help governments and enterprises in Singapore and Australia achieve their digital transformation goals.'
NCS will serve Australian clients through NCS NEXT, its digital innovation and services arm. It intends to leverage the presence of its parent company Singtel Group to grow its business. NCS-owned companies will employ 1,900 people in Australia and build a tech talent pipeline to support clients.
NCS also has a Cloud Centre of Excellence in Melbourne. The centre supports government and business to accelerate their cloud projects.
How Austrade helped
Austrade has provided ongoing support for NCS's investment plans in Australia. This includes providing:
- local industry information and capabilities in NCS's sectors of interest
- government budget and industry updates
- advice on the foreign investment review process
- travel support
- High Commissioner and Ministerial engagement.
Find a new home in Australia
Australia offers a Global Talent visa with fast-track processing and permanent residency for high-value businesses and exceptional individuals.
