MARQ1 no more: xAmplify and CSO Group merger scrapped
Twelve months on from its announcement, the merger between Australian digital and cyber consultancies xAmplify and CSO Group has now been revealed to have long been scrapped.
The pair of tech advisories announced their coming together last June, in what was touted as the creation of Australia’s largest home-grown integrated cybersecurity and AI consulting and services provider, with combined revenues in excess of $100 million.
The firm’s new moniker – MARQ1 – was unveiled shortly after in September, with expectations the merger would be completed and branding rolled out the following month. Now, ARN reports, the deal in fact fell over sometime towards the end of last year.
According to the industry publication, based on a statement from xAmplify CEO Wayne Gowland, who was due to take on the MARQ1 chief operating officer role and lead sales and operations, the two parties continue to work together, but somewhere along the line agreed to return to their former strategic partnership model to better focus on their respective strengths.
“Our decision was made following careful consideration of how best to maintain momentum on our strategic goals,” Gowland said. “As one of Australia’s fastest-growing digital transformation partners, we felt we could better serve our clients by remaining independent, focused on delivering innovative, human-centred solutions across AI, automation and secure digital infrastructure.”
As a result of the aborted merger, former VAST Data and Nutanix managing director Howard Fyffe, who was brought in as a dual chief revenue officer with responsibility for sales integration and go-to-market strategy, has since departed for a new, as-yet announced endeavour, while fellow ‘federal’ CRO Tom Scicluna takes on full CRO responsibilities for xAmplify.
In the business equivalent of celebrity gossip pages, it appears through a quick scan of the companies and their key personnel’s LinkedIn accounts that the tagging between each other dried up roughly ten months ago, suggesting a rapid disintegration of the relationship following the enthusiasm demonstrated in September.
At the time, CSO Group chief executive Michael Simkovic, preparing to become MARQ1 CEO, said; “Our new identity signifies our shared commitment to delivering exceptional services to our customers, while our new management structure will help seamlessly integrate and streamline both sides of our business as we come together to create something truly unique.”
New investor for xAmplify
Meanwhile, in a further twist, xAmplify has also now secured a “significant equity investment” from Macquarie Capital’s Principal Finance division, with a view towards upping its delivery capabilities and fast-tracking the Canberra-headquartered firm’s national expansion, including via new offices in Brisbane and Melbourne to go with a recently-launched base in Sydney.
“xAmplify’s leadership team, expertise, and forward-looking platform align with Macquarie Capital’s view of the capabilities needed to drive continued digitisation for Australian businesses and government entities,” stated Newton Gillies, Macquarie’s head of principal finance for APAC “We are excited to be partnering with xAmplify on their next phase of growth.”
