Tenderlink buys out NTIS

By ADAM GIFFORD

Electronic tender portal TenderLink.com has bought Australian rival National Tender Information Service for an undisclosed price.

Chief executive Philip Brown said Australia accounted for about a third of TenderLink's business and the deal would double its supplier base across the Tasman to about 1500.

New Plymouth-based Tenderlink charges suppliers an annual fee of $450 for access to its database of New Zealand tenders and $650 for Australian tenders, or $825 for the combined package. It does not charge companies or organisations placing tenders.

"We run a fixed-line business in expenditure terms, so adding several hundred suppliers is significant for our future cash flow. We are, in effect, buying cash," Brown said.

The NTIS operation is closing down and no staff are being retained. Brown said NTIS charged suppliers between A$500 and A$1500 a year for a basic email notification service, but it did not have the level of sophistication TenderLink had developed on its website.

Brown said TenderLink was now the largest electronic tendering business in Australasia.

TenderLink had also received a $45,000 grant from Industry New Zealand to develop policies and electronic codes for use in local government tendering, he said.

It had the backing of Local Government Online, a company formed by the Society of Local Government Managers and the Association of Local Government Information Management, to be the electronic platform of choice for councils.

Brown said six councils had signed up so far and he expected more to join soon.

TenderLink