Electra Announces Sale of DataCol
Electra Group has entered into an agreement to sell the Datacol business including Australian activities to
Wellington-based company, Arthur D. Riley and Co Ltd (‘ADR’).
The agreement is now unconditional with final settlement to occur on the 29th September.
Electra Group Chief Executive, Neil Simmonds says he has been working closely with the Board over the last year to
conduct a strategic review of the Group’s business and the decision has been made to pursue other growth opportunities.
“DataCol has made a positive contribution to the overall performance of the Group over many years. We are grateful to
the entire team for their efforts and achievements, particularly in transforming the business from an electricity meter
reading business into a leading edge data collection, monitoring and management business that has quickly established a
market dominant position in the New Zealand water reading market and managed to secure significant international
contracts.”
“However, we believe that the future success of the business requires greater size and strength, and that the best way
to achieve this is through market consolidation. By consolidating forces with ADR, the Board believes the combined
operation can more quickly achieve the required economies of scale that will better position the business for future
growth, and provide the most positive outcome for the business, its staff and clients.”
DataCol Today
Established in 1999, DataCol is a data collection, monitoring and management business that has gained widespread
recognition for its service commitment and levels of innovation.
A fully owned subsidiary of Electra Group, DataCol employs 23 full time staff across it’s Christchurch head office and
Auckland and Wellington branches.
DataCol’s heritage is as a successful provider of meter reading services across the electricity, gas and water sectors.
Crucial to this success has been the development of the proprietary SevenX electronic meter reading software package.
The company’s electricity and gas customers include Contact Energy, Genesis Energy, Mercury Energy, Meridian Energy,
Energy Online, TrustPower and Powershop. In just seven years it has secured 80% of the New Zealand water meter reading
market, with clients including Watercare Services (Auckland) and Tauranga City Council, Waikato Councils, Christchurch
and Dunedin City Councils as well as Sydney Water in Australia.
In the water sector, DataCol has partnered with many Irrigation Service companies as well as Meter and sensor vendors to
provide comprehensive water monitoring and irrigation management solutions, helping water consent holders comply with
government regulation and improve their water usage efficiency through better information and reporting.
In 2015 the company purchased a large player in the agricultural sector, Watermetrics, bringing together a large client
base with DataCol’s market leading, proprietary remote data collection and monitoring system (Collect) to create a
strong market proposition.
Who are ADR?
Established in 1909, Arthur D. Riley & Co. Ltd (ADR) is a wholly New Zealand owned company supplying and servicing the utility industry with special emphasis
on electricity and water metering, and high voltage equipment for distribution networks.
The company is proud to represent a select group of manufacturers from across the globe, and the knowledge and
competence of its technical personnel who supply solutions to clients in New Zealand, Australia and throughout the
Pacific Islands.
Since 1989 they have been involved with the supply of handheld technology utilised by field staff, this has primarily
focused on utility meter reading and parking enforcement solutions. Initially using overseas technology , in the late
90’s they committed to the development of their own solution for both meter reading and parking enforcement and
management and have continued to develop and offer innovative solutions to their client base.
In recent years a change in ownership structure has created a focus on the need to consolidate their experience in the
remote acquisition, monitoring, management and control. From being successful in the supply of Cybetec IP Gateways to
Transpower, the acquisition of Control Systems (a SCADA integration company) and ADR’s recently announced acquisition of
Abbey Systems - a successful SCADA hardware and Design company who has exposure in local, USA, Australian and South Asia
markets – the Datacol acquisition further increases the experience and offering that they can bring to the market place.
Garth Mickell, Managing Director at Arthur D Riley & Co Ltd says the combined operation will strengthen ADR’s market position as a legacy meter reading provider, by being
able to offer synergies and efficiencies in operations, and creating New Zealand’s leading data monitoring and
management business. This allows the business to actively pursue opportunities both nationally and internationally,
particularly in the data collection, monitoring and management sectors. “We are excited to be consolidating forces and
to build on the excellent work that’s been achieved to date.”
ENDS