Building scale, winning share - expanding our global reach

Building scale, winning share – expanding our global reach

ASE Global expanded its service offering and geographic footprint with the acquisition of Edentity Software Solutions, an Austria-headquartered automotive software provider.

The acquisition has allowed us to grow our network in central Europe, and to provide more comprehensive software solutions to our customers around the world, covering everything from dealer benchmarking and used car management to sales, marketing and fleet management.

With Edentity’s software, we are now better placed to help our customers seamlessly compare financial performance across a dealer network, widen their pool of partners for used car sales, and ultimately to make more informed decisions about how to manage their businesses and unlock profitability.

It’s now been four years since the acquisition and I couldn’t be more pleased with the integration of Edentity into ASE, which has accelerated our software capabilities and started to open up new markets for our business.

Robert Jones comments: “I had the opportunity to reflect on our work together so far at a recent event hosted by the Austrian Embassy in London and organised by ABA – Invest in Austria. The event was attended by Dr. Margarete Schramböck, Austria’s Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, and business leaders from both the UK and Austria”.

I spoke about our experience of acquiring and working with an Austrian firm, integrating it into our global business, and what we have learned in the process. The key points included:

1 - Austria is a highly competitive business environment, with an impressive cluster of tech companies, an engaged and highly skilled workforce, and advantages of location. One challenge is that the labour market is stretched, which can make recruitment of skilled talent difficult. The legal requirements and compliance of running a business are also more stringent than in some other European markets.

2 - We’ve seen considerable benefits from the acquisition, combining ASE’s global network and data expertise with Edentity’s software speciality, and channelling new services to both our customer bases. In the short term, this has allowed us to do more for customers as we look for new ways to help them drive profitability. In the long term, Edentity will evolve as our software development house, enabling us to extend our offering further and access new markets that would previously have been out of reach.

3 - You expect any business acquisition to improve the scope and capabilities of your company, and that has undoubtedly been the case with ASE and Edentity. Particularly important has been the knowledge sharing between our global head office and Austria, which has been a valuable exchange of ideas and expertise, one from which our business and most importantly our customers are benefiting, with more flexible tools that can be used by non-IT specialists.

4 - We hope that our work together has demonstrated the potential for bilateral business partnerships between the UK and Austria, and that others will follow. Even with the uncertainty Brexit is creating, everyone we deal with in Austria is clear that we should be getting on with the job, and seeking to building commercial bridges wherever possible. Austria and the UK are great business partners, and the priority should be to continue deepening that relationship in the near and long-term future.

We look forward to expanding our range of products and services, so that we can continue to provide world leading solutions to Automotive brands looking to navigate change and accelerate performance.

Find out more about ASE Global and Edentity.