Apr 25, 2023

CEO Kevin O’Loughlin. Image: Nostra The acquisition doubles the Enterprise Ireland client’s employees in the west of Ireland, bringing its total headcount to 270. Nostra, one of Ireland’s largest Irish-owned managed services providers, has acquired Galway-based Passax Business Systems, marking a significant expansion of its presence in the west of Ireland. Founded in 1983, Passax Business Systems has expertise in telecoms and cloud-based PBX systems. PBX, or Private Branch Exchange, is used to describe a business telephone system that offers multiple inbound and outbound lines, call routing, voicemail and call management features. The acquisition doubles Nostra’s number of employees in the west of Ireland, bringing its total headcount to 270. As a result, Nostra is relocating its Galway regional office in Athenry to a new state-of-the-art office based in Ballybrit. Nostra is headquartered in Dublin’s Park West and has various regional offices around Ireland and Bulgaria. Founded in 2006, Nostra brings end-to-end managed IT services to clients across several industries, from manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to healthcare and fintech. Acquiring Passax Business Systems is part of a broader plan to make several strategic acquisitions in 2023. It has previously acquired IT service provider Enclave in 2021, the same year it announced a major expansion of its headcount through new jobs. The company, a client of Enterprise Ireland, is now on track to achieve revenues of €50m by the end of the year, according to CEO Kevin O’Loughlin, thanks to its business strategy based on organic growth and expansion through acquisitions. “We will continue to acquire businesses which will widen our customer base, and which align with our culture while adding to our human capital, products, and services. Very early on we identified businesses which we had ambitions to acquire for us to grow and to deliver further expertise to our clients,” O’Loughlin said. “The acquisition of Passax is just one of several we will close on this year. Nostra has ambitious targets to achieve, and these targets will be met by the skill, talent and expertise of our workforce. To date we have acquired Tech Department, Emit, Brandon, Enclave and Passax.” 10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the  Daily Brief , Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.