New Delhi, July 24: IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said it has completed the acquisition of French enterprise solutions provider Alti SA, a move that will help the Tata Group company to expand its reach in Europe. In April this year, the Mumbai-headquartered company had announced it will acquire Alti SA for 75 million euros (about Rs 533crore) in an all-cash deal to help transform TCS into a major player in France -- the third-largest IT services market in Europe.
The acquisition gives the firm access to blue-chip French and European clients in banking, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors. "TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran and ALTI's founders signed the final agreement to commence the integration of ALTI into TCS' operations in France. The acquisition had been initially announced in April 2013," TCS said in a statement.
Alti SA is regarded as one of the top five system integrators of SAP solutions in France. It includes several top French corporations in the banking, financial services, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors as its key customers, it added. "Today is a historic day for our company in France, which will see us emerge as a much stronger player in the local market and which sets the platform for our future growth in the region," Chandrasekaran said.
As a long term strategic market for TCS, with leading edge infrastructure and a highly skilled engineering talent pool, France was a natural destination for the company to invest in towards our future growth, he added. "The important investments made by TCS in its two sites in France (Ile-de-France and Lille) since February 2013 are true testimonials to the capability of France to welcome and integrate companies from abroad that have installed themselves on our soil," French Republic Minister for Economic Regeneration Arnaud Montebourg said.
Assessed at over 30 billion euros, the France IT services market is the largest in Europe, after the UK and Germany. TCS has been operating in France since 1992 and has over 50 clients in the country. Earlier, Alti SA was a privately-held company owned by its management and two private equity funds, CM-CIC LBO Partners and IDI, which supported its growth from a revenue base of 64 million euro in 2007 to 126 million euro in 2012.
Regarded as one of the top five system integrators of enterprise solutions in France, Alti's key customers comprise several top French corporations in the banking, financial services, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors. The company has 1,200 employees based in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
