Business Connexion and Didata settle amicably
A bitter clash between Business Connexion and its rival Dimension Data over the alleged poaching of a contract has finally been settled after eight long years and a few short minutes in court.
The lengthy spat has culminated in a relatively amicable settlement, although Business Connexion is not saying how much of its claim for R175m in damages Didata has agreed to pay.
CEO Benjamin Mophatlane confirmed the matter finally reached court last Monday, when the parties agreed to make a final attempt at an out of court resolution. They gave themselves a week to do so, and shook hands on Friday.
One source said the case had been set down for several weeks, first so the merits of the allegations could be heard, and then to discuss the size of the damages if Business Connexion won.
On Friday, Mophatlane said it had been sensible to reach a settlement without going through a long and protracted court case.
“Both parties went to court so the case could proceed, but today both parties agreed to settle the matter. I’m not entitled to tell you how and what has been settled.”
The case revolved around a huge outsourcing tender issued in 2000 by Coca-Cola Sabco, a bottling company in Port Elizabeth.
Business Connexion, which was then known as Comparex, bid for the deal and designed and submitted its proposals. But the deal was awarded to Didata, which Business Connexion accused of using questionable tactics including poaching its staff and the information they held.
A search and seize order was obtained by Business Connexion, and its lawyers confiscated documents that apparently proved its rival had behaved illegally to win the deal. Business Connexion cited the damages it was seeking as R140m, but the case was still dragging on in 2006 when a court date was finally set for the following year. That never materialised and Business Connexion accused Didata of various stalling tactics. Since then the amount being claimed in damages had escalated to R175m because the contract had proved so lucrative, and because the loss of the work and the loss of its staff had a serious effect on its Port Elizabeth operations.
“We designed and put forward a plan and Didata had extensive information about it,” a source from Business Connexion said. “They poached our staff and our information. It’s been a hugely successful business. If they had settled with us a couple of years ago we’d probably have settled for a couple of million, but now there’s a whole history of success.”
One problem with the matter taking so long to reach court is that few of the people familiar with the issue were still involved with the companies. Time had also numbed the pain, particularly since Mophatlane himself joined the company in 2004 when Comparex merged with his black empowerment group.
Mophatlane said: “Sometimes in life you have to move,” adding, “There were principles that both parties argued but we just wanted to move on.”
After winning the deal to overhaul Coca-Cola Sabco’s operations, Didata created a new company, DataFlo, by absorbing its in-house information technology resources.
DataFlo replaced the core IT systems to increase productivity, boost customer service and cut running costs.
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