Idion Technology Holdings, the JSE-listed company that made headlines almost daily last year when it became the first local company to be targeted in a cross-border hostile takeover attempt, is quite a different company today.

The South African operation, Idion Solutions, was sold to CS Holdings, leaving Idion with US-based Vision Solutions, which specialises in managed availability software, as its only operating asset. Idion now occupies only a small corner of its building in Sunninghill, Johannesburg. The rest of the space has been taken up by the United Nations World Food Programme and IT training company Netscope.

“With Idion Solutions, when we brought in the new management we gave them time and money to turn the operations around,” says CEO Nicolaas Vlok. “But business conditions and the hostile bid made it difficult to conclude business. Potential clients saw too much risk.”