As many of you know, TOPAZ was acquired in June of 2016. We became part of Cultura, which is, in turn, part of Volaris, which is, in turn, part of Constellation Software Inc.
Constellation Software Inc is a publicly traded company, listed on the Toronto stock exchange (CSU.TO) with a current market capitalization of $14B and annual revenues of over $2B. It was founded in 1995 to “provide software and services to public and private sector industries, by acquiring and then helping with the growth of vertical market software companies”. Some of our sibling companies serve the grain and agriculture industries, while others have offerings for asset management, management of public transport networks or financial services. In total, CSI has over 13,000 employees and over 125,000 customers in over 100 countries.
The acquisition
Despite the size of CSI, TOPAZ remains a “small company”. The CSI model is to bring business expertise, best practices, HR and IT help and financial stability to their acquisitions, but to leave the local management and operational practices intact. Thus, TOPAZ remains in its same offices in Austin TX, with the same management team and the same mission. We just have fewer distractions with administration, finance and other “overhead”.
The Volaris group within CSI has never sold an acquired company. The philosophy is to grow the acquired companies to be the leading player in the market, to encourage both organic growth and growth by acquisition and to focus on the long term. Volaris also espouses a philosophy of being “customer focused”, concentrating on bringing value to customers rather then being focused on technology or products. All of this allows the team at TOPAZ to make better long-term decisions and focus on our unique industry.
Back in June of 2016 when the acquisition occurred, the team at TOPAZ inevitably saw many unknowns, and had some nervousness about the acquisition. As we approach our second anniversary of the acquisition, we are all extremely energized and excited by the stability, focus and expertise that being a member of the Cultura/Volaris/CSI group has brought. Next year will see the 40th anniversary of TOPAZ; under the umbrella of CSI we look forward to the second 40!
