In corso le trattative da parte di Capgemini per l’acquisizione di Prosodie, società IT specializzata nella fornitura di servizi di web hosting che ha recentemente acquistato la società italiana LevelIP.
Il costo dell’operazione, che dovrebbe concludersi entro la fine di luglio, è valutato in 382 milioni di euro.
Di seguito la nota ufficiale in lingua inglese emessa da Capgemini.
Capgemini in exclusive negotiations to acquire Prosodie
Capgemini, one of the global leaders in consulting, IT services and outsourcing, has entered into exclusive negotiations with the funds managed by Apax Partners and the Prosodie management team with a view to acquiring Prosodie, the multi-channel services operator. This acquisition would enable Capgemini to round out its services offer in the dynamic client-relationship solutions market. It would be a perfect fit for the Group’s growth strategy in new IT operating business models (NBM). This involves Capgemini building, alongside existing services, a proprietary solutions offer. In spite of the economic crisis, Prosodie has delivered steady organic growth and strongly increased its profits over the past four years.
The acquisition would be done based on an enterprise value of €382 million, including the cost of two recently-announced acquisitions, Internet-Fr in France and LevelIP in Italy. The transaction would be financed in cash from the Group’s net cash balance and would be accretive to net earnings per share from the first year. Capgemini France and Prosodie are currently in the process of informing and consulting with employee representatives. Authorization will be sought from the French competition authorities. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of July.
To round out its service offering in terms of geographical criteria, Capgemini acquired a majority stake in one of the leading IT services companies of Brazilian origin, CPM Braxis, at the end of 2010. The acquisition of Prosodie would be a major step in the right direction for Capgemini in terms of client solutions. Following the acquisition of Avantias and Artesys (both in France) and BI Consulting Group in the United States, this fourth acquisition of the year 2011 would underline the Group’s commitment to continue expanding in its traditional markets.
Prosodie, a leader in multi-channel transactional flow management At the heart of the digital economy, Prosodie has a unique position in France and elsewhere in Europe thanks to its expertise in the overlapping areas of IT and telecoms. Prosodie proposes to its clients all-in-one, innovative solutions. These offers cover all aspects of the multi-channel client relationship and prepayment – both areas where the company is the leader in France –, as well as payment and hosting of services that are highly secure and available 24/7. Prosodie counts 861 team members and is underpinned by a solid R&D capacity. The company is present in France, Spain, and just recently, Belgium. In 2010, it reported consolidated revenues of €172.3 million and a 15.9% operating margin (EBIT)1.
More recently, Prosodie significantly strengthened its position on the Internet applications hosting market with the announcement, at the end of May, of the acquisition of two companies: Internet-Fr in France and LevelIP in Italy.
Prosodie’s client offers would complement Capgemini’s, especially in the case of those targeted at financial and public sector clients, as well as telecom operators and major retailers. They would form part of Capgemini’s New Business Model service line, the aim of which is to develop services based on proprietary solutions invoiced on a pay-as-you-go basis. For its part, Prosodie would benefit from Capgemini’s global client portfolio and would be able to continue to expand internationally, while taking advantage of Capgemini’s market intelligence and technical expertise.
Once completed, this acquisition, financed entirely from the Group’s net cash position, would be accretive to Capgemini’s operating margin. It will also be accretive to net earnings per share – excluding operating synergies – of at least 3% in 2011 and around 4% in 2012.
For Georges Croix, Chairman and CEO of Prosodie: “We would be delighted to join a global group with whom we share the same values, and more crucially, a similar entrepreneurial spirit. Integrating our solutions with Capgemini’s services offer would enable us to meet clients’ needs for a full end-to-end service, from developing their IT system through to managing the client relationship.”
For Paul Hermelin, Capgemini Vice-Chairman CEO: “This acquisition would be a perfect fit with our growth strategy: to expand in the high-value-added solutions market segment. At a time of personalization and dematerialization of services, linking up with a leader in front-office transaction solutions and benefiting from the know-how of its 861 team members would provide us with a major competitive advantage. All the more so given that we share with Prosodie the conviction that technological innovation goes hand-in-hand with commercial innovation.”
