Denver Business Journal: Thanks to its November acquisition of The Wilson Group of Farmington Hills, Mich., Bantek West is becoming a single-source solution for financial institutions. It not only delivers cash to ATMs but also provides full technical support to ATMs and other bank equipment.
Denver-based Bantek, founded in 1986 and bought by Chief Executive Leif Houkom and other investors in 1994, has grown rapidly in the last 10 years. In 1994, it had 120 employees and $4 million yearly revenue. Now -- excluding the Wilson buy -- its employment is 10 times bigger, at 1,200, and its yearly revenue is 20 times bigger, at $80 million.
With the Wilson acquisition, a cash and stock deal whose terms haven't been disclosed, Bantek added a company with $20 million in revenue and 200 employees, bringing its total revenue to more than $100 million annually and its employment to 1,400, about 100 of whom are in metro Denver.
Houkom said Bantek might make another acquisition or two this year as it strives to broaden its geographic footprint or deepen its presence in current markets. It has 55 branches in 38 states servicing 15,000 ATMs (including 2,800 from Wilson), 94,000 desktop workstations (including 26,000 from Wilson) and 1,500 servers.
