Local specialist ICT services company, ATIO, announced today that they have concluded a transaction whereby Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) has acquired a select portion of ATIO's Interactive Intelligence-related contact centre assets in order to service the South African and sub-Saharan region more ably.The value of the transaction is R 54 million. The new company will operate as Interactive Intelligence South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

"ATIO has built up a very strong relationship with Interactive Intelligence and being named as its EMEA Partner of the Year multiple times is a testament to our business successes," said Chris Van der Sande, CEO of ATIO. "ATIO signed up as an Interactive Intelligence value-added reseller in 2002 shortly after I took over the reins here. We have built up a very successful business together over the last 10 years. When Interactive approached us and offered to buy that part of our business, it simply made a lot of sense for us and my shareholders. The cash will be retained in the business to fund other growth initiatives we have in the pipeline."

"ATIO has ranked among our top revenue-generating resellers of all partners throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa each year since it first began offering our solutions," said Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO, Don Brown. "This successful track record, combined with a talented support and services team, mature infrastructure, and expertise in key industries such as financial services, telecommunications and government, makes ATIO's Interactive business an ideal acquisition choice."

As a result of this transaction, Interactive division managing director, André le Roux, has been appointed as managing director of Interactive Intelligence South Africa (Pty) Ltd., and is one of 40 ATIO employees who will transition to the new operation. Dawn Hollingworth, currently managing director of ATIO's Netcampus division, will also take over the managing director role for ATIO's Interactive division.

"We are excited about the future of ATIO and will remain focused on our strengths in order to attain our goals," Van der Sande concluded.

ATIO is a Level 3, Value Adding Supplier black empowered company that has been providing specialised Information Communication and Technology (ICT) services for over two decades. ATIO has three divisions each focusing on a clearly defined niche market. Our interactive division provides integrated communication services such as contact centres, converged networking, unified communications, mobility, workforce optimisation and IP telephony. We also offer IT services focused on system integration, managed services and professional services.

Our telecoms division provides vendor independent performance management services focused on wireless network optimization, and performance benchmarking for 2G, 3G and 4G technology standards. We also provide converged IP assurance and IP performance testing. Our netcampus division provides collaborative learning solutions. It is a fully accredited online provider of innovative technical training products and services from major international courseware vendors empowering students to enter the IT industry with world-class certifications.

Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of contact centre automation, unified communications and business process automation software and services. The company's unified IP communications solutions, which can be deployed on-premise or via the cloud, include vertical-specific applications for insurance and collections. Interactive Intelligence was founded in 1994 and has more than 4,000 customers worldwide.