Delta Partners, a Dubai-based tech and telecom private equity group, have just made a new investment, putting US$7 million into Vox Spectrum, a telecom services company based in Dubai.
Vox works on "the design, engineering, construction, installation and maintenance of a broad range of voice, data, video and wireless infrastructure solutions." I haven't come across them before - but that doesn't surprise me, as there are a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes tech and telco service providers operating out of Dubai that you never hear about until something like this happens.
Vox Spectrum certainly keep a low profile - a Google News search shows just a handful of mentions in the media since 2002. But the business of building up infrastructure for telco operators, call centres and offices has been a pretty lucrative one in the past decade, and I'm not surprised that a niche player with a tight focus on the Middle East and Subcontinent (which Vox seems to have) is doing well. And unlike, say, antivirus software, this isn't the kind of industry that requires lots of mass market public relations.
Delta Partners have been investing out of Dubai for about a few years now, and have made some interesting plays, including working with the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Adic) to buy Orasinvest, the infrastructure service provider wing of Egypt's Orascom Telecom.
The important point to be made here - as stressed time and time before - is that private equity players like Delta depend on a steady flow of small, growing companies that need PE cash to take it to the next level. And those companies need venture capitalists and angel investors to get off the ground, and those guys are few and far between right now in the Middle East.
Anyhow, more on the deal after the jump:
Key facts on the deal (via Delta Partners announcement):
- Vox Spectrum Group Limited and Delta Partners are pleased to announce that Delta Partners MENA Telecom Fund, a Private Equity fund focused on investing in Telecommunications in high growth markets, has decided to invest USD 7mill. in Vox Spectrum Group of Companies. This will mark the 5th investment undertaken by the US$ 80 Million fund
- Delta Partners MENA Telecom Fund is managed by Dubai-based Delta Partners, the leading management advisory and investment firm specialized in Telecoms, Media and Technology (TMT) in high growth markets. Delta Partners employs more than 130 professionals operating across 50 markets in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Emerging Asia. From its offices in the UAE, Bahrain and South Africa, Delta Partners provides services through its three highly synergistic business lines: management advisory, private equity and corporate finance. The firm differentiates itself through its specialization in telecoms, its focus on high growth markets and its integrated business model. (For more information about Delta Partners please visit www.deltapartnersgroup.com)
- Vox Spectrum Group Limited is an international technology and telecom group of companies based in Dubai with offices in the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and India. Vox and its group companies are involved in the design, engineering, construction, installation and maintenance of a broad range of voice, data, video and wireless infrastructure solutions for clients worldwide. (For more information visit www.voxspectrum.com)
- Delta Partners sees Vox Spectrum as a unique platform to invest in telecommunications in the Middle East and India to which Delta Partners can add value, through its integrated advisory and investment business model, providing hands-on support focused on specialization and experience. Delta Partners believes that Vox Spectrum, through its strategic interests in the engineering, software and electronics industries across emerging markets, coupled with its excellent reputation and strong client relationships, is well positioned to capture the exponential growth that the Indian and Middle East telecoms market will experience
- Vox Spectrum is committed to making its group companies significant players through all markets in which they operate. With the additional backing from Delta Partners and their insights on the telecom sector Vox Spectrum hopes to gain valuable market share quicker than anticipated
