(BFM Bourse) – The digital services company has signed an agreement to acquire this company whose revenues are estimated at 110 million euros. This merger will also allow it to generate synergies.
Sopra Steria is still hungry for acquisitions. The digital services company had decided in July to carry out a major external growth operation with the planned acquisition for 282.5 million euros excluding debt of the French company CS Group, specializing in the design, integration and l operation of critical systems. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.
This time, the company headed by Cyril Malargé has decided to strengthen itself across Quiévrain. Sopra Stera announced on Friday a project to buy the Belgian company Tobania as well as its parent company, Assua, and its subsidiary, Python Predictions.
The digital services company has signed a share agreement with the founders of Tobania for Sopra Steria Benelux to acquire 100% of the shares of Assua.
200 million euros accumulated
A consulting and digital services company, Tobania was created in 2014 following the merger of two companies, Saga Consulting (founded in 1990) and Tobius (created in 2006) a bit like Sopra Steria, born in early 2015 from wedding of Sopra and Steria.
This Belgian company has 650 employees and expects to generate a turnover of 110 million euros this year. “All of this turnover is generated in Belgium: 45% in the financial services and insurance sector, 15% in the public sector and 18% in telecommunications and media”, specifies Sopra Steria.
The new entity would achieve a combined turnover of more than 200 million euros, which would enable Sopra Steria to double both its size and its market share in the country. The company also refers to the benefit of “commercial and operational synergies” generated by the transaction. The group plans to complete this operation in the first quarter of 2023.
The market appreciates
“This merger project fits perfectly into our development strategy. It would strengthen our positions in the markets defined as strategic in Europe by capitalizing on our target verticals and a key account strategy. It is also part of an approach aimed at to cultivate the entrepreneurial model that makes up our difference,” said Cyril Malargé, quoted in a press release.
“While Sopra Steria should finalize the acquisition of CS Group in the first quarter of 2023, the company continues to remain active in M&A [fusions-acquisitions, NDLR] with a new operation which appears attractive at first reading”, underlines Invest Securities. “Assuming profitability and a price paid in line with those of Sopra, the operation should cost less than 70 million euros”, continues the intermediary financial.
“By integrating both CS Group and Tobiana, the scope effect should reach +7 points [de revenus] in 2023. A contribution that had not been observed since the merger of Sopra and Steria in 2014. A sign that the new CEO, Cyril Malagré, wishes to imprint his mark on the group’s strategy and give a boost”, also analyzes the design office.
The market welcomes these announcements. On the Paris Stock Exchange, the Sopra Steria share rose 2.8% to 145.20 euros around 3:30 p.m.
Julien Marion – ©2022 BFM Bourse
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