Interview with Marco Marangoni, CEO of White Pearl Technology Group

White Pearl Technology Group (formerly DS Plattformen), commonly referred to as White Pearl or WPTG, is currently in the process of smoothly transitioning to its new listing on the First North stock exchange, as the final details of its relisting from NGM are being meticulously finalized. This IT firm was acquired by DS Plattformen in December 2022, the SPAC vehicle of the investment company Dividend Sweden, which subsequently secured its position on the Swedish stock exchange. In an attempt to illuminate this captivating company, TradeVenue has been granted the opportunity to conduct an interview with its CEO, Marco Marangoni, in order to gain deeper insights into this investment prospect.

For our Swedish readers, we have provided a translated version of the interview below. Please note that the Swedish version has not been reviewed by any representative of White Pearl.

What is the background of White Pearl and how was the company founded? 

In 2019 a group of skilled managers, coming from important global IT companies, founded the group, selling and developing projects in Middle East, Africa and India. The focus was (and it is still a big part of the revenue) providing services (migrations, integrations, new implementation) of the main world-class software and SAAS platforms from vendors like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Unit4 and others. During the last few years, the initial group of subsidiaries has grown thanks to the acquisition of new companies with skills in Digital Transformation, Digital Marketing, Software Development, Hardware and Networking Expertise and with knowledge in new areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. So, our profile as IT player, is now extremely complete since we are able to provide services, support and we are selling our own IPs. Last consideration, our journey is started in emergent markets where we found the right balancing as organization and in terms of quality/ pricing: now we are able to attack more mature markets where we are sure to be really aggressive with our offer and the starting point is Sweden as our HQ.

What are the key competitive advantages of White Pearl?

As explained, we found the right balancing between quality and price, so customers will be positively surprised. But also, we are ready to provide a higher customer (or user) experience, making easier the integration between different software and platforms from different vendors a finally we are ready to provide an efficient support due to our Global Delivery Centres are in the same time zone of the main markets. Soon, once activated our GDC in Latin America, we will be able to ensure a real 7/24 support service. We can offer a combination of those services and expertise, and we can prepare a custom offer based on the real customer needs (and budget).

The company has experienced a moderate year-over-year revenue growth of around 1 percent between 2022 and 2021, accompanied by a profit margin of approximately 8-9 percent during the same period. What strategies is the company implementing to enhance its growth trajectory, and how does the listing on First North contribute to these endeavours?

First, it is important remember we born in a critical period (COVID) when many companies experienced issues with their organizations and sometimes, they reduced their expectations. In our case we had a development and even in a difficult worldwide scenario we demonstrated to have a dynamic organization able to change and transforming when is required. Now, thinking about the future coming back to the normality in a post COVID scenario, but also in the planned release of new software and saas products (especially developed to attack small mid-sides enterprises), we are in the condition to make a jump in terms of revenue and profit growth. We are considering keeping growing mostly organically and in part through new acquisitions of real interesting and profitable companies especially in Sweden and Europe.

White Pearl has an interesting IT portfolio with subsidiaries based in, and with exposure to, the world's emerging regions. Can you elaborate on what this network means for the company's customers?

It is a real guarantee for global customers, since they need the same quality and expertise applied worldwide, but also it is a sign we are a complex and good organization able to take over projects in any moment and keeping low the main costs IT companies normally have. In the perspective to have more presence in the small-mid size industry sector, this strong control of prices and the guarantee of high-quality service levels, will make the difference with most of the regional competitors.

Are there any similar companies in other industries that you consider comparable to White Pearl?

Maybe talking about big players, we are competing with Accenture, Deloitte or Globant, but at the time to play making attractive offers we can surprise. About the small-mid size segment, I think we will be an interesting success case since this kind of industry segment has mostly a regional profile, not a global scale.

What makes White Pearl an appealing investment?

As global company, we are working in different markets, so we are not subject to the typical local or regional economic risks or suffering negative influences. The importance to be a global company is high since we can analyse the most profitable markets and attack them in the right moment. Also, the politics keeping low the productions (delivery) costs is so important at the time to evaluate the profit produced by a project, selling a software or providing support.

The interview took place on June 27th, 2023. Since June 21th, 2023, TradeVenue has been entrusted with the responsibility of delivering analytical coverage of White Pearl Technology Group. Further details regarding TradeVenue's analytical coverage can be found below (in Swedish).