Newly appointed director Bill English and Mike Jenkins.
Hamilton-based tech firm The Instillery has continued its impressive growth with the announcement of a major merger and the appointment of former Prime Minster Bill English to its board.
The Instillery is a fast-growing cloud, security and managed service business with a range of corporate, enterprise, local and central government agency clients.
The merger with Origin would see The Instillery as a Tier 1 ICT provider, chief executive and founder Mike Jenkins said.
Jenkins will lead the combined organisation, which will retain The Instillery brand and deliver more than $40 million in revenue with 200 staff across New Zealand.
Origin’s CEO and founder Michael Russell will join the executive team of The Instillery as chief sales officer.
Jenkins described the merger as one of the most significant M&A events for the Kiwi tech sector in a decade and a “statement of intent of a desire to lead in this cloud revolution”.
“The tech sector here in Aotearoa has been screaming for change and a genuine alternative option to partner with. Trust and confidence (information security) have never been more critical to our clients as they embark on their cloud journey, so Michael and the Origin team’s 20 years of experience in this field across both security consulting and managed services is massively compelling.”
The combined business will offer one of New Zealand’s leading cybersecurity practices, Jenkins said.
“We’re excited about the immediate opportunity to scale to up to help more businesses innovate and realise the well-documented benefits of cloud.”
Jenkins has also welcomed English’s appointment as an independent director.
“Bill’s experience as Aotearoa’s former Prime Minister and a leader in the tech space will accelerate The Instillery’s ambitions and growth plans.
“Bill has extensive experience from his time in government where he oversaw a series of large scale multi-billion dollar investments as both Finance Minister and PM and he is now involved in private-sector tech companies.
“His commitment to lifelong learning and his experience on problem-solving make him an ideal independent director for The Instillery.”
English said he was attracted to the business by its talent, growth potential and ability to bring innovation to organisations keen to embrace a genuine cultural shift leveraging cloud as a business enabler rather than simply “upgrading their technology”.
“The Instillery is only six years old, but already an award-winning and successful operation in high-growth mode. It is the market leader in cloud and expanding nationally with an eye to offshore investment. I hope to help Mike and his Instillery team accelerate the uptake of high productivity technologies in the public and private sectors.”
The new company will have offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Napier, Wellington and Christchurch.
