CASE STUDY
Sicap, a global telco and IoT provider, aims to strengthen and grow with Lumine
Sicap Acquisition Case Study Lumine Group
- Founded: 1994
- Located: Switzerland
- Industry: Telecommunications
- Acquired: 2018
Why Sell?
Sicap was formed as a spin-off from Swisscom, as an opportunity to continue growing the device management business but under the guidance and with resources from an established acquirer.
Website: www.sicap.com
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Background
Sicap is a Swiss-based global telecommunication and Internet of Things (IofT) solution provider for mobile network operators and mobile virtual network operators.
The company helps mobile service providers with solutions relating to customer insights and engagement, device and SIM management, mobile security, and IoT service enablement. Sicap currently operates in 76 countries for over 120 customer sites, and has an international team based in nine locations worldwide.
Sicap was founded over 20 years ago as a spin-off from Swisscom, with a team of engineers who in 1997 invented the world’s first SIM-based solution for prepaid billing. In response to the market dominance of network-based prepaid billing technologies, the company re-focused its mobile network expertise on SIM over-the-air management, device management, and USSD solutions, paving its way into international telecom markets.
From Swisscom to Lumine Group
From 2001 until 2013, Sicap operated independently as part of Swisscom, until it gained full independence through a management buyout. The new company was created out of spun-out businesses that focused on USSD platform & device management and SIM management. In 2018, Sicap was acquired by Lumine Group.
Joining Lumine
Early in 2017, Sicap began looking for strategic acquirers to help further grow the business. After considering a handful of potential candidates, the company favored Lumine Group from an early stage. What appealed to Sicap was the concept behind Lumine, the fact that Lumine Group acquires companies with the purpose of strengthening and growing them while keeping the companies independent. For Sicap and its leadership, this was a clear and attractive concept that would guarantee a strategic, mutually beneficial partnership.
Connecting with Lumine Group
For Sicap, the great benefit of joining Lumine is that it allows the company to assume a strategic position within the communications portfolio. Sicap’s device management business is fundamentally aligned with the portfolio’s value proposition of connecting everything.
With Lumine, the company looks to expand its network by gaining access to the large customer base of its fellow portfolio members, which is something that it can leverage for greater opportunities in the future.
Sicap also stands to benefit from the communications portfolio’s growing footprint in the mobile device space, made possible by fellow portfolio member WDS Mobile.
Now that Sicap has joined Lumine, it is undergoing a successful integration with a clear understanding of the required objectives as a result of the Lumine team’s transparent, open communication. The company is receiving support and direction from its peers in the communications portfolio and benefits from access to best practices shared by like-minded leaders within the organization. For Sicap’s employees, the benefit is that the management team remains in place and that business continues as usual.
Future Plans
The company’s customers, meanwhile, are pleased that Sicap has joined the stable, large business environment provided by Lumine Group. In fact, some of Sicap’s large customers have even expressed interest in working with other companies in Lumin’s communications vertical.
As Sicap looks ahead, the core of its business will remain device management. The company will continue to provide platforms for managing and configuring the connection of devices. In addition, Sicap is investing significantly in R&D and leveraging the data from its core business to develop several products such as target, to improve customer insight and engagement, and Sicap Safer, to provide security optimization. Now that Sicap has joined Lumine, it will also have the opportunity to work with other companies in its portfolio on common developments.
Sicap was acquired by Lumine Group in 2018.
This case study was originally published in 2018.
