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Econocom Group SE — M&A Activity 2012
Nov 12, 2012
3943_iss_2012-11-12_e72e5638-e84c-4db3-be13-35c401f250b1.pdf
M&A Activity
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REGULATED INFORMATION
12 November 2012
Econocom signs an agreement to acquire France Systèmes,
France's leading Apple reseller in the enterprise and government market
France Systèmes, founded in 1992, posted revenue of €26 M in 2011, a rise of more than 60% on the five previous years, thanks to its strategic position in the high-growth business-to-business Apple equipment distribution sector.
The company is the leading accredited Apple reseller in the field of Education and Research, with clients including leading scientific research institutes as well as numerous country's top universities. It also has a number of major corporate accounts, particularly in the media (press, broadcast, advertising agencies).
France Systèmes is an accredited Apple Service Centre.
Véronique di Benedetto, Country Manager France for Econocom, said: "Offering businesses and institutions easy access to the potential of new technologies is one of Econocom Group's major priorities. Through our Distribution business, we keep constantly up to date with new patterns of technology use in the enterprise market, so it was a natural progression for Econocom to become one of the first Authorised Apple Resellers in France and the market leader in B2B iPad deployment. Acquiring France Systèmes will enable us to consolidate our position in France and benefit from the booming tablet market."
"We are delighted to be joining Econocom Group: they are the best possible partner for us as we share the same service commitment to our clients and the same dedication to assisting them in the transition to new patterns of use resulting from the fast adoption of new technologies," said Hamid Tavakoli, Chairman of France Systèmes.
Econocom now enjoys a unique position in Europe's high-growth business-to-business tablet market. The group is an Apple Authorised Reseller and Authorised Systems Integrator in France, Belgium and Italy, and the market leader in business-to-business deployment and integration of touch tablets, having signed several major contracts in 2012.
"France Systèmes' reputation for professionalism, combined with their good business momentum and the market expertise of its senior management will enable us to take advantage of Apple's strategy to dominate the enterprise market, which is driven by the BYOD/CYOD1 trend," observed Philippe Goullioud, Managing Director of Econocom's Distribution division in France.
1 Bring Your Own Device and Choose Your Own Device
With this transaction in the Distribution sector, Econocom continues its acquisition strategy in growth markets. This is the group's fifth external growth transaction since the beginning of the year, after Centix² (virtualisation) in January, Tactem (telecoms) in May, with Cap Synergy (IT security) in July and Ermestel, (virtualisation) in October.
The acquisition should be finalised during the fourth quarter of 2012.
Next press release: the 2012 preliminary revenue will be published after the close of trading on 24 January 2013.
About Econocom: Established in 17 countries with 3,700 employees and consolidated revenue of €1.58 billion in 2011, Econocom is Europe's leading independent provider of business-to-business IT and telecoms infrastructure management services.
Its services include consultancy, distribution, leasing and a complete range of IT outsourcing services. The Econocom Group share (BE0974266950 - ECONB) has been listed on the Euronext NYSE in Brussels since 1986 and is part of the BelMid index.
For further information: www.econocom.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/econocom
Contact: investor and shareholder relations: [email protected]
PR contact: [email protected]
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² Econocom acquired a stake in the company