Tech companies combine to tap digital ad market
Published:Sunday | May 19, 2019 | 12:10 AM
Growth-Tech – a company that provides Wi-Fi services is acquiring 30 per cent of technology partner and advertising company Medianet Limited.
The deal is expected to close in June, but the cost of the transaction was not disclosed.
Medianet is a 16-year-old company that also provides Wi-Fi and advertising solutions. The company earns annual revenues of over $100 million, says majority owner Everton Grier.
Medianet’s services, delivered with a workforce of 20, include fibre optics, a data centre, heavy-duty electrical installations, disaster recovery and business continuity, enterprise networking, and cloud computing.
Growth-Tech shareholders include CEO Neil Lawrence and Phillip Grindley, according to Companies Office records. The company, which began operating in 2017, last year won the contract to roll out Wi-Fi services on state-owned buses operated by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, allowing passengers to connect to the Internet for free.
Medianet said in a release that it has a large portfolio of company contracts, including a contract to supply and install structured cabling, UPS, and air conditioning for 166 schools across Jamaica. It also named NCB and Sandals Negril as clients and cited past collaborations with Growth-Tech.
“Medianet has been working closely with Growth-Tech to design and implement their customised Wi-Fi advertising solution,” he said.
Lawrence says Growth-Tech has long-term contracts with the JUTC as well as other transport companies in the tourism sector to provide Wi-Fi and digital advertising services.
Collectively, the ridership across all the entities with which the company has partnerships is more than 500,000 daily, he said.