COMPANY NEWS

Aptiv drops US$4.3bn on Wind River in drive to accelerate digital transformations

Aptiv is to acquire Wind River from TPG Capital for US$4.3 billion in cash. Used on more than two billion edge devices across more than 1,700 customers globally, Wind River’s software enables the secure development, deployment, operations and servicing of missioncritical intelligent systems. The company’s edge-to-cloud software portfolio spans the aerospace and defence, telecoms, industrial and automotive markets and is anchored by Wind River Studio, a versatile, comprehensive cloud-native intelligent systems software platform that enables full product lifecycle management for edgeto-cloud use cases. Wind River generated approximately US$400 million in revenues in 2021.

“The automotive industry is undergoing its largest transformation in over a century, as connected, software-defined vehicles increasingly become critical elements of the broader intelligent ecosystem,” said Kevin Clark, the president and chief executive officer of Aptiv. “Fully capitalising on this opportunity requires comprehensive solutions that enable software to be developed faster, deployed seamlessly and optimised throughout the vehicle lifecycle by utilising data-driven insights. These same needs are driving the growth of the intelligent edge across multiple end markets.”

The acquisition is expected to allow Aptiv to execute against the large softwaredefined mobility opportunity and expand into multiple high-value industries with Wind River’s team and intelligent systems software platform. The combination will enable multiple end-use innovations and applications, particularly as compute and processing continue to move closer to the edge and connected devices, including vehicles, expand in complexity and capabilities.

“Combining Wind River’s industry-leading software, customer base and talent with Aptiv’s complementary technologies, global resources and scale will realise our vision of the new machine economy,” said Kevin Dallas, the president and chief executive of Wind River. “Together we will accelerate the digital transformation of our customers across industries through best-in-class intelligent systems software. We look forward to working with the Aptiv team to reach even greater heights and provide further growth opportunities for our customers and partners.”

Kevin Clark, Aptiv

Kevin Dallas, Wind River

PartnerOne complete US$40m Evolving Systems deal

The US$40m acquisition of Evolving Systems, a provider of real-time digital engagement solutions and services, by software conglomerate PartnerOne has been completed. For more than 30 years, Evolving Systems’ products and services have empowered communications service providers (CSPs) to increase revenue per user, reduce friction, improve retention and maximise customer satisfaction. Many of the world’s telecommunications companies rely on Evolving Systems’ proprietary technology and industry expertise to deliver improved experiences to their own customers. market are reliant on providing better customer engagement and an improved customer experience if they want to retain and expand market share,” said Adhish Kulkarni, Evolving Systems’ senior vicepresident. “Evolving Systems has been enabling them to do this for three decades. As a result, the technology we deliver and the results we provide to our customers and partners is unrivalled.”

As part of the PartnerOne organisation, Evolving Systems will solidify its position as a global provider and all Evolving Systems customers will benefit from improved products and services that exceed the rigorous demands of its market.

NEWS IN BRIEF

fonYou secures funding to go beyond telecoms

Fintech innovator fonYou has secured US$8 million in growth funding from Banco Santander‘s Smart Fund. The financing deal aims to support fonYou’s future technology development and market expansion as it rolls out its new fintech solutions across key regions including Latin America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The new framework finance agreement will fund fonYou as it expands its sector focus beyond telecoms to integrated digital finance enablement across global fintech and ecommerce markets. fonYou’s innovation roadmap is focused on delivering new technologies to enable the deployment of embedded finance solutions including instant payment, ‘buy now, pay later’ and emerging credit modalities in partnership with connected mobile operators, ecommerce, and the wider global banking ecosystem.

BICS Singapore buys 3m Digital Networks

BICS has agreed the acquisition of communications platform as a service (CPaaS) specialist, 3m Digital Networks, by BICS Singapore, a 100% subsidiary of the BICS Group, for an undisclosed amount.

The deal will accelerate the BICS Group strategy to become a communications platform company, delivering a suite of cloud-based omnichannel communications services alongside its existing portfolio. This will significantly enrich BICS’ value proposition towards both the telecommunications and enterprise markets, with the ambition to expand its Softwareas-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to support businesses in their digital transformations.

The acquisition will add a wide range of cloud-native communications solutions to BICS’ portfolio, including AI-enabled voice, multi-channel messaging (WhatsApp, verification services, IP messaging, and rich communications services) and advanced analytics services.