Capgemini Consolidates Position in ‘Intelligent Industry’ with Latest $4.1 Billion Acquisition

The global leader in consulting, IT services and digital transformation, Capgemini, is acquiring Altran Technologies for $4.1 Billion. The global leader in the ‘Intelligent Industry’ economy has announced that they have entered into an agreement for exclusive negotiations whereby Capgemini is to acquire Altran, through a friendly takeover bid of €3.6 billion.

Currently, Altran supports its customers, from concept to industrialization, to develop the products and services of tomorrow. Altran has been working for more than 35 years with major players in many sectors: Automotive, Aeronautics, Space, Defence & Naval, Rail, Infrastructure & Transport, Industry & Consumer Products, Life Sciences, Communications, Semiconductor & Electronics, Software & Internet, Finance & Public Sector.

Altran’s Integration is facilitated by cultural proximity and a similar operating model

With both companies built on engineering talent and traditions, Capgemini and Altran have a very close corporate culture that will facilitate a smooth integration of their teams. The two groups also have very similar operating models with many operational indicators in common.

The combined Group will continue to invest massively in its talents, opening up a host of opportunities for the employees of both entities. The completion of this combination is expected by the end of 2019.

Capgemini Focuses on Intelligent Automation Nurtured by R&D and Engineering

Capgemini will unlock the value of Intelligent Automation across modern businesses and IT spectrums. Altran’s acquisition will boost efficiency and profitability for customers that expect Capgemini to deliver advanced levels of Automation, Robotics and Cognitive Computing in the realm of AI and Machine Learning.

Currently, Capgemini already uses diverse RPA solutions to unlock value for a host of multinational organizations in a wide range of areas that include —

• Data entry and validation
• File and data manipulation
• Automated formatting
• Multi-format message creation
• UI manipulation
• Web scraping
• Text mining
• Uploading and exporting
• Downloading and importing
• Workflow acceleration
• Currency/Exchange rate processing
• Reconciliations

With Altran’s merger into Capgemini’s operations, customers can expect a stronger push to the Digital Transformation drive that has taken modern businesses with a mixed reaction of excitement and anxiety. 

Introducing a world leader in “Intelligent Industry“

The new Group will benefit from a unique ability to support industrial players in their digital transformation, by combining its intimate knowledge of their businesses, its privileged access to decision-makers and its portfolio of offers that spans digital transformation, consulting and innovation, Information Technologies (IT) and Operational Technologies (OT). Building on these strengths, Capgemini will reinforce its role as the strategic partner of choice of its customers in this “Intelligent Industry” space, which presents a double-digit growth potential.

Paul Hermelin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Capgemini Group, said-

“This proposed combination enables Capgemini to take the lead in a very promising market segment—what we call ‘Intelligent Industry’ or the digital transformation of industrial and tech companies. The complementarity and power of our combined business and technological expertise are truly outstanding assets. By joining forces, we are positioning ourselves as a clear strategic partner to assist our clients in taking full advantage of the revolution created by the developments of the cloud, Edge computing, IoT, artificial intelligence and 5G. I am delighted to welcome to Capgemini the talents and leaders of Altran, who share our beliefs and corporate culture.”

Dominique Cerutti, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Altran Group, added-

“The proposed combination of Altran with Capgemini is perfectly aligned with the vision set out in our strategic plan. While technological disruptions and the digitalization of industries are accelerating, Altran has developed new service models and strengthened its leadership with a high value-added offer for its customers’ Engineering and R&D activities. In an industry that is consolidating rapidly, there is no doubt that Capgemini is the ideal partner to build together a world leader in digital transformation. This transaction will create value for our customers, and is an outstanding opportunity to showcase the talent of our teams.”

The two industry leaders join forces

Capgemini is a world leader in consulting, IT services and digital transformation. Altran is the world-leading provider of Engineering and R&D services, with a portfolio of high-profile clients, extensive sector expertise and in-depth understanding of industrial business processes and operational technologies.

The combination of the two companies will create a group with revenues of €17 billion and more than 250,000 employees. This new entity will leverage its unique positioning in particular promising segments.

Through its enhanced scale and broad services portfolio, the combined group will benefit from increased access to key decision-makers from key accounts in dynamic industries (such as Aerospace, Automotive, Life Sciences, and Telecommunications) including R&D, manufacturing and supply chain CxOs.

This transaction allows Capgemini to accelerate its development with major Internet and tech companies, by giving the new entity a critical mass in software engineering through centers of expertise, particularly in India and Eastern Europe. The Group aims to become a major player in this key market.

Strengthened leadership in the fast-growing market of Engineering and R&D services

Over the medium-term, Engineering and R&D (ER&D) services are anticipated to grow by around 95%annually. The new entity will be the world’s top player in ER&D by size (notably in the USA and in Europe), with unique sector expertise.

The combined scope of these Engineering and R&D services activities will represent annual revenues of approximately €3.4 billion⁶ and 54,000 professionals, including 21,000 in 5 Global Engineering Centers.

Building on its track record in industrialization and innovation, Capgemini will strengthen Altran’s deployment of its segmented model of services (high value-added services, traditional services, Industrialized Globalshore^®) to support customers throughout the entire life cycle of their products and services.

Strong value creation

The Group expects accretion to normalized EPS, before synergies from the combination, of more than 15% in the first year after closing.

Cost and operating model synergies are anticipated to reach an annual pre-tax run rate between €70 and €100 million in 3 years. At that point in time, commercial synergies should generate between €200 million and €350 million in additional annual revenues, from cross-selling and the development of innovative sectorial offers.

In 2023, with the benefits of these synergies, the accretion on normalized earnings per share should exceed 25%.