Digital ESP Acquired By Valtech
Valtech Acquires Digital ESP
Valtech, a global business and technology consulting group, announces an agreement to acquire American-based DigitalESP, an integration and software development consulting firm and one of the leading IBM partners in the U.S. Consistent with Valtech’s proven philosophy, the acquisition of DigitalESP is a full stock swap transaction. DigitalESP operations will be integrated into Valtech’s North American business unit, with headquarters in Addison, Texas.
Valtech expects a range of synergies to result from the acquisition, including:
Improved visibility within the U.S. market– DigitalESP’s strong presence in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region will add to Valtech’s presence on the U.S. East Coast. 2002 projections for consolidated North American revenues are US$ 33 million.
Enhanced IBM partnership — With a relationship that dates back to 1994, DigitalESP remains a key IBM partner and provides multiple services designed to assist IBM customers in successfully leveraging their WebSphere investments and fully exploiting the product’s Web Services capabilities.
Increased competitive advantage — DigitalESP’s leadership in such key technology areas as Web Services, generally, and IBM’s WebSphere, specifically, will translate into immediate opportunities for Valtech to deliver high-impact solutions to both existing and prospective clients.
Expanded vertical industry expertise — With approximately 65% of annual revenues generated from its insurance clients – together with strong references from those clients – DigitalESP will quickly solidify Valtech’s presence in one of the fastest growing markets in the U.S. Utilities and Financial Services are also strong markets for DigitalESP.
“This is a great opportunity for Valtech,” said Eric Mouilleron, Chief Acceleration Officer of Valtech. “With this transaction we will have obvious synergies throughout the U.S. market, but particularly in the New York region where DigitalESP’s numerous insurance clients will translate into immediate opportunities for Valtech consultants in our New York office.”
Brad Murphy, President and CEO of DigitalESP, will become a Senior Vice-President of Valtech, reporting to Curtis Hite, Chief Operations Officer of Valtech North America. In addition to accelerating Valtech’s presence in the insurance and financial services industries, Murphy will be charged with leveraging the combined company’s unique relationship with IBM.
“We are extremely pleased to add the exceptional management talent of Brad Murphy and his team to Valtech North America,” stated Curtis Hite. “Their success in both the insurance industry and their long-standing relationship with IBM will significantly increase Valtech’s competitive positioning and market awareness within the U.S. In fact, we have already capitalized on the expanded opportunities this acquisition represents by providing numerous Valtech consultants to DigitalESP as a means to grow their business with existing Insurance clients.”
“With the acquisition of DigitalESP, Valtech can rapidly create a leadership position in the use of Web Services as a strategic tool for dramatically lowering the cost of enterprise integration as well as accelerating the delivery of back-end systems over the Web,” said Brad Murphy. “And as a result of our close collaboration with the IBM WebSphere team based in Raleigh, North Carolina as well, we will assist Valtech in developing early insights into building dynamic customer solutions using WebSphere platforms and tools,” added Murphy.
“Valtech’s two highest priorities in 2002 are the expansion of our North American operation that should become the largest revenue contributor of the group by year end, and the success of our Worldwide Development Centre in India. This acquisition brings to Valtech very talented entrepreneurial management in North America,” concluded Jean-Yves Hardy, CEO of Valtech.
About the Transaction:
The transaction is a full stock swap deal with a 3 year lock-up calendar.
The valuation of DigitalESP will be accretive to Valtech for 2002 and will slightly improve Valtech’s EPS in 2002.
Lingfield, a subsidiary of Infologix that represents the interests of the Peder Sager Wallenberg Charitable Trust, owner of an investment portfolio including DigitalESP, has expressed its intention of becoming an active Valtech shareholder by looking for opportunities to create synergies between Wallenberg’s many interests in regions where Valtech is represented.
Brad Murphy and the shareholders of DigitalESP and Infologix will become Valtech shareholders as a result of the acquisition.
The transaction is subject to approval by Valtech shareholders.
About DigitalESP
Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Raleigh North Carolina, USA, DigitalESP, Inc. is a leading provider of Dynamic e-business integration and software development services to the Global 2000. DigitalESP has a demonstrated record of engineering and building Dynamic e-business application and Portal infrastructure solutions that leverage the unique benefits of Java/J2EE and Web Services (XML, SOAP, UDDI and .NET).
DigitalESP’s solutions move beyond web storefronts and stand-alone Internet sites and instead focus on the flexible delivery of web based solutions that dynamically blend all of a company’s critical back-end enterprise services with newer web based solutions. For additional information, about DigitalESP please visit www.digitalESP.com.
About Valtech
Formed in 1993, Valtech is a global business and IT consultancy group specializing in collaborative project delivery with advanced technology skills transfer. With approximately 1,000 employees, Valtech successfully serves the needs of Global 2000 clients, such as Adecco, Charles Schwab, JP Morgan Chase and Company, Schlumberger and Southwest Airlines as well as business partners including BEA, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Siebel and webMethods.
