Telstra revealed plans to acquire cloud services company Versent and a subsidiary for AUD267.5 million ($171.9 million) to support the operator’s tech services business Telstra Purple and drive growth.

In a statement, Telstra explained the deal includes Versent subsidiary Stax, which offers a self-service management platform enabling enterprises to design, build and run their own cloud.

Telstra Enterprise group executive David Burns noted growing demand for Telstra Purple services since launching it four years ago, particularly in cybersecurity and cloud-led transformation as enterprises, governments and industries continue to digitise their operations.

“Versent will bring additional depth to our strong team of experts, help our enterprise customers maximise their investment in cloud-led transformations and help us meet the growing demand for these specialised services,” he said.

Melbourne-based Versent is currently owned by a mix of its founders, investors and employees.

It has 500 employees, and offers professional and managed services, along with partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, and security and data vendors.

The transaction is expected to be completed within six weeks, subject to various conditions including certain securityholder processes.

Telstra acquired Alliance Automation and Aqura Technologies in early 2022 to boost Telstra Purple’s capabilities for industry verticals.

Alliance Automation is Australia’s largest supplier of IoT industrial automation and control systems, and Aqura Technologies is a provider of telecoms infrastructure including industrial wireless, access networks, unified communications and industrial IoT.