Cegeka get feet on the ground in Wallonia
The Dutch group Cegeka get a solid foot on the ground in Wallonia. He acquires 67 percent of the Liège ICT service provider NSI IT Software & Services.
The addition of 193 full-time equivalents and 24.8 million euro turnover, makes Cegeka a group of about 155 million turnover and 1163 full-time equivalents (plus about 200 foreign employees, figures for 2008). This is managing director Andre Knaepen, the 71.23 percent owner of Cegeka back closer to its goal of Cegeka the largest ICT services to Belgium. The acquisition amount is not disclosed. The funding comes from a loan from the Dutch investment company LRM about which no details are given. The payment of the consideration is in 4 discs until 2012.
This puts Cegeka acquisition trail more. In 2008 Cegeka next Dolmen grip, but it bought IT Omni and MSP. Or so this acquisition gets done right is still to be seen. Liege residents support the traditional football club Standard. Andre Knaepen outte – in Dutch – at the press conference in Liège in Meusinvest as supporter of RC Genk.
Cegeka buy the shares of the staff and management and private shareholders Michel Poncelet. At the same time attracts the Liège public investment Meusinvest its interest in NSI of 29 to 33 percent. Meusinvest pay them 400,000 euros, said deputy general manager of Freddy Meurs Meusinvest. “But that increase is from other than the acquisition of shares by Cegeka. Since you can not the rule of three applied to calculate Cegeka pay,” warns Meurs.
NSI and Cegeka are geographically perfectly complementary. “So far we Wallonia was terra incognita”, recognizes commercial director Luc De Clerck of Cegeka. NSI continues to operate as an autonomous nv under the same name and management and had responsibility for a multi that focuses on growth in Brussels, the region around Lille and Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Luxembourg, in that order. NSI gets six directors: Chief Executive Jean-Louis Disasters of NSI, three directors and two of Cegeka Meusinvest. Cegeka guaranteeing employment.
Meusinvest, which total about 1.5 million of capital and loans in NSI, threw in the press as the guardian of the long-term interests of NSI.
Andre Knaepen Cegeka stated that his office in Paris to Lille transfer. The second CEO of NSI, Philippe Oeyen, over the coming years will gradually reduce.
The negotiations with NSI started end of 2008, first with the management of NSI, from January 2009 with Meusinvest. At that time, NSI has two years to look for a partner, says Freddy Meurs. Developments and off-shoring, the growing volume of public procurement, rising development costs and the increasing consolidation in the industry did NSI looking for a strong partner. It passed “French, Belgian and other international groups,” the revue. Cegeka came knocking on his own initiative. That Cegeka not listed, was a plus, recognizes CEO Jean-Louis Disasters of NSI. The Liège residents also hope to benefit from the 24 / 7 help desk, data center capacity and experience in the healthcare Cegeka.
The two groups have a similar history. Both in 1992-1993 co-founded by the U.S., and CSC has been working with public investment – in Meusinvest NSI, LRM to Cegeka. Both have extensive experience in the public sector. By NSI is the ratio between private and public revenue 50/50 since the merger in 2006 with Nasca, a Meusinvest participation by more private work. “This is our growth in the first half but about 2 percent,” says Jean-Louis Disasters of NSI. Large private clients such as Arcelor Mittal and Caterpillar have been badly hit by the crisis. Disasters hopes on 20 percent more sales at NSI in 2010, mainly through projects in Brussels. The acquisition makes Cegeka NSI and a truly national service. NSI now has offices in Liege, Brussels and Namur.
Also over in Romania Cegeka
Cegeka, itself some 250 developers in service, the majority in the Romanian company Inside Software, which subcontracts the work. That said CEO Andre Knaepen of Cegeka at the press conference following the acquisition of NSI by Cegeka. The Romanian company employs about 50 developers. The outsourcing is done by the Dutch branch of Cegeka, Data Bar.
According to Andre Knaepen Cegeka grew in the first half with 25 percent. “The rest of the year even better,” added André Knaepen there later to it. He stated that the operating profit in the first six months of about 4 to 5 million euro had risen. The growth of Cegeka is significantly higher than the industry. (Agoria expected at the end of last year a growth of 2 to 4 percent in services and software.)
An important part of the turnover of Cegeka consists of long-term contracts that are less sensitive to crisis. “About 70 percent of our income is recurring,” says Knaepen. Moreover Cegeka benefit of some large contracts, including the Ventouris “system for social insurance of self and the global system for BMW of a system for (inter alia) the management of used car sales. The failllissement of Kaupthing Bank – a customer Cegeka – has not led to unpaid bills, said Knaepen. Keytrade Bank, the buyer of the Belgian customers of Kaupthing Bank, put the contract with Cegeka or stop. That is not a major setback, leaving Andre Knaepen means.
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