Zalaris

M&A Activity • Apr 26, 2017

Zalaris ASA acquires sumarum AG (previously IT2 Solutions AG) - a leading HR outsourcing and consulting company in Germany

Zalaris ASA acquires sumarum AG (previously IT2 Solutions AG) - a leading HR outsourcing and consulting company in Germany

Zalaris ASA (OSE: ZAL) has agreed to acquire sumarum AG, a leading

human resources outsourcing and consulting company based in Germany.

The deal joins two leading SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) and

SuccessFactors partners, creating an outsourcing and consulting

powerhouse delivering a complete suite of payroll and HCM services

covering the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Germany, Austria,

Switzerland, Spain and India.

"The combination of Zalaris and sumarum represents a perfect match

between two companies that are leaders in technology and their

respective regional markets", says CEO and founder Hans-Petter

Mellerud of Zalaris. "We look forward to providing German language

support and launching additional products and services that create

exceptional value for all our clients."

Increased European footprint delivers additional customer value

In addition to strong consulting operations, sumarum specializes in

successfully executing large SAP HCM projects. Together, the two

companies will change the outsourcing landscape through increased

solutions development and outsourcing expertise across a wide

European reach.

The combined business will continue to serve private and public

enterprises with the same, high-level SAP HCM and SuccessFactors

cloud-based outsourcing and consulting services currently provided

by each company.

The acquisition gives Zalaris immediate access into Germany,

Europe's largest economy with more than 80 million people and a high

concentration of medium and large international companies.

"This is a significant milestone for Zalaris, providing us with a

strong foothold in the center of the European SAP and

SuccessFactors-based outsourcing and consulting market," Mellerud

continues. "Both companies are similar in their makeup and

leadership positions, and this strategic investment emphatically

drives our business forward into the future."

Zalaris group including sumarum will employ around 650 employees in

the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Germany, Spain and India.

"Teaming up with Zalaris gives us a unique opportunity to expand our

reach to international clients, while continuing to deliver quality

outsourcing and consulting services to our existing clients," says

Harald Goetsch, CEO and founder of sumarum. Goetsch will continue

working for the company along with the rest of the current sumarum

management team.

Extensive customer benefits across borders

Zalaris and sumarum both develop and deliver cloud-based outsourcing

and consulting HR solutions leveraging SAP technologies. Once the

acquisition has closed, Zalaris expects to deliver additional value

to customers and accelerate the development of new and improved

outsourcing and consulting services.

"Together, we will create more innovative, cost-efficient, user-

friendly and reliable HR solutions that support our customers'

goals. Our extended reach with local-language support across borders

in Europe should be of particular interest for our multi-national

customers," says Mellerud.

Zalaris and sumarum customers will have access to the same

comprehensive portfolio of cloud-based HR services, including state-

of-the-art mobile applications and SAP SuccessFactors integration

and consulting competencies.

"Our solutions were designed to be scalable. We can offer all the

benefits of leading SAP SuccessFactors HR and payroll solutions as a

standardized solution with an attractive entry point in a flexible

structure. Also, all our solutions are compliant with the European

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is currently

underway," Mellerud says.

The broader geographic reach afforded by the acquisition also

presents employee recruitment advantages for people-oriented

businesses like Zalaris and sumarum.

"With operations in 13 countries, we will be an attractive employer

for resources looking for international opportunities in the rapidly

growing HR outsourcing and consulting industry across Europe,"

Mellerud says.

Please see the enclosure to this release for more detailed

information in accordance with the requirements set out in Section

3.4 of the Continuing Obligations for companies listed on the Oslo

Stock Exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements set forth

in Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Please contact:

Hans-Petter Mellerud, Zalaris ASA, CEO and founder

Tel: +47 92 89 72 76

hans-petter.mellerud@zalaris.com

Harald Goetsch, sumarum AG, CEO and founder

Tel: M 0151-16128811

hgoetsch@sumarum.com

About Zalaris

Zalaris delivers comprehensive cloud-based outsourced HR and

payroll, as well as consulting services based on SAP HCM and

SuccessFactors. The company is certified as a SAP and SuccessFactors

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Partner and is a leading SAP

Human Capital Management (HCM) and SuccessFactors consulting

partner. Founded in 2000, Zalaris today operates in Denmark,

Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland,

Spain and Sweden, including local-language service centers with

extensive expertise in HR-related laws and regulations. Zalaris

(ZAL) is a publicly listed company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Learn

more at www.zalaris.com.

About sumarum

sumarum offers a full range for employee services, and is a

specialist on the use of and introduction of software to SAP HCM and

SucessFactors systems. sumarum, formerly known as IT2 Solutions, is

one of the largest owner-controlled consulting and outsourcing

services firms in Germany and was founded in 2001.The company

focuses as a one-stop-shop services provider for all relevant back-

office processes of its clients (e.g., accounting, HCM, analytics,

etc.). Today, the company has six locations in Germany, and all

specialize in different areas of the sumarum portfolio. sumarum has

a broad spectrum of customers within public services, service

providers, large industry players, energy companies and companies

and trusts within the healthcare sector. In April 2017, the company

was renamed sumarum and today has about 180 employees.