Seller Insight: Brian Allen of Certus Digital

Brian Allen, CEO, Certus Digital

“A lot of times you think you know the answers, but if you haven't done a lot of sell-side M&A, it's really important to listen to those who have.” That insight comes from Brian Allen, former CEO of Certus Digital, a company specializing in enterprise asset management. Established in New Zealand in 2003, Certus is the largest software and services organization in Australia and New Zealand. 

Allen is an accomplished tech company leader with more than 30 years of experience in the IT software industry. After joining Certus as its CEO in 2004, Allen helped the company evolve from a niche IT systems firm into a leading digital business partner in the Asia-Pacific region. The company helps clients manage their physical assets using tools like IBM Maximo and AI-driven solutions to improve operational performance. Allen notes that globally Certus is one of IBM's their top ten partners.

In June 2025, with Corum acting as its M&A advisor, Certus was acquired by Egis Group, a global provider of architectural, consulting, construction engineering, operations, and mobility services. Thinking about his experience with Corum during that transaction, Allen says, "One of the things that Corum had to offer were those different points of view with their sell-side expertise. And they brought that to bear across the range of their consultants and geographies.”

The Path to M&A

Certus' interest in being acquired started a number of years ago. As Allen recalls, "Our shareholders, who were long supporting, were looking for a liquidity event. And so over the last five years we started to groom the company to take it to market." In aiming toward that goal, Allen and his team worked to build the right profitability and solution profile for the market. That interest also led Allen to Corum. As it happens, Allen had previously been the CEO of another company that Corum assisted in achieving a successful exit. Allen had worked closely with Corum on the sale. That positive experience made it natural for Allen to contract with Corum to be Certus’s M&A advisor. 

Corum's disciplined M&A process, which includes an extensive global search for buyers based on the world’s largest buyer database, quickly led to what would likely be an optimal outcome for Certus. Reflecting on the situation, Allan says, "Our initial go-to-market approach with Corum was text-bookish. We created our value proposition. We chose our strategic buyers. We went to market and in four months’ time we had a non-binding initial offer from Egis. We were headed towards due diligence. It was all going according to plan." And then that smooth path hit a snag

The snag and hiatus

Unfortunately, just as Certus was proceeding to due diligence, Egis ran into an impediment that prevented the company from going forward with the deal. By that time, Certus had already withdrawn from being considered by other prospective buyers, and it was too late, they felt, for the company to get back into that market. So Certus decided to take advantage of Corum's hiatus program, which gives sellers an opportunity to pause their participation in the M&A process with the intention of returning to it at a later time. Corum clients that have taken advantage of the program have found that it can ultimately result in getting a great deal. And that's what happened with Certus.

While Certus was on hiatus, the company formed a strategic alliance with Egis. According to Allen, “We decided to do this to get a lot of the benefits that we thought we were going to enjoy if we would have combined with Egis in the first place." That alliance took almost a year to put in place. Allen adds, "As part of the agreement we entered into joint development of industry solutions, and marketed and sold our solutions together. And so it created a whole new dimension for Certus. Suddenly, instead of just being a dominant New Zealand market player, we were a player in a particular geography who is now expanding into the Middle East, Europe, and potentially North America in the next few years.”

That strategic alliance formed the basis for a resumption of the M&A process with Egis. "When we went back to market," recalls Allen, "having created this relationship with Egis, we actually had a different value proposition, which resulted in a deal with Egis that got us an even better price for the company." Actually, Allen was prepared to create some competitive tension in the process by going to a handful of strategic competitors. He notes, "We were clear with Egis that we would be going back to market, and in future dealings it would be competitive. And to their credit, they accepted that position as something that was reasonable given the circumstance."

What the future holds

With the acquisition of Certus, Allen has been asked to continue as an advisor to Egis. He's also weighing his options for the future, "Of course, my wife would like me to retire in part," says Allen. "But for me I've always been someone who worked, who takes a lot from work. So the main thing is to use my time wisely and do just the things that I want to do. I have a lot of opportunities to do different things. And so I need to take some time to choose wisely about those things.”