Vodacom said it will acquire a 51 percent stake in South African Internet of Things specialist IoT.nxt. The value of the deal has not been disclosed by Vodacom and is subject to approval by the Competition Commission. IoT.nxt was founded by Nico Steyn in 2015.

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said the acquisition will help the company to enhance its IoT offering. Joosub said that IoT.nxt offers unique edge technology and a tech-agnostic platform that can play a significant role in solving the challenges of legacy systems that have integration limitations.

This acquisition, Joosub said, will position Vodacom as the digitisation partner of choice for customers. The IoT.nxt brand will also remain, added Steyn. IoT.nxt currently has numerous clients in the South African IT and telecoms market, including Telkom, Cell C, Fastnet and T-Systems.