Industrial and mining IT provider Sedna Industrial IT Solutions has announced a change in its ownership structure, with the separation of its African business allowing for a renewed focus on expansion in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Sedna’s African business was acquired by MD Anton Fester and technical director Koos Fourie. Darryl Mitchell, as an original founder of Sedna, will continue to own and run Sedna in the US alongside co-founder and Sedna CEO Peter Dormehl.

To mark the separation of the African business from the group, Sedna in South Africa will rebrand and launch a new website, while Sedna US retains its corporate identity.

Dormehl explains that not much will change on the surface for customers and partners of Sedna, as the new owners have been in place for years as leaders of the company. There will, however, be a change in focus as the two businesses separate to ensure they are best positioned to provide solutions for their respective geographies.

Sedna’s focus in Africa has been on delivering and supporting enabling connectivity technologies such as private LTE (pLTE) and surface and underground WiFi networks. These create opportunities for instrumentation convergence, systems integration, and data accumulation for reporting and management purposes in the mining industry.

Fester confirms that Sedna Africa will be “laser focused” on delivering excellence and value through production-enabling technologies to ensure customers enjoy the full benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Sedna managed to deliver Africa’s first licensed spectrum mining pLTE network and the continent’s first underground mining pLTE network.

“Today these networks enable surface and subterranean autonomation use cases by leading original-equipment manufacturers. We are proud to be accredited by all leading wireless technology solutions,” Fester adds.

The separation deal will ensure both companies can build and grow their solutions to the benefit of more heavy-duty companies. “We can now better align to regional requirements and ensure we have dedicated resources to deliver tailor-made solutions that match the needs on the ground as we expand,” Fester states.

Sedna Africa is targeting growth in other heavy industries besides mining, including ports, manufacturing and oil and gas.