Schelle, 12 September 2008
IT service provider Ordina Belgium NV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ordina NV, a Dutch stock-market listed company, is taking over the Belgian-Luxembourg IT company
E-Chain Management. The take-over will make Ordina one of the largest SAP partners in Belgium and Luxembourg.
E-Chain Management has been providing business automation services based on SAP software since 2001, and is a certified SAP service and channel partner. With the take-over, Ordina Belgium is strengthening its expertise in ERP business consultancy, SAP implementations, Business Intelligence solutions and NetWeaver integration technology. The take-over is being financed with cash and shares.
Supporting growth objectives
E-Chain Management was founded in 2001 and has sites in countries including Belgium (Antwerp) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In 2007, the company had a turnover of 13.6 million euro, and currently has 108 experienced SAP specialists. They will reinforce the SAP consultants already working in the Business & Enterprise Solutions division at Ordina. E-Chain Management is also the largest SAP partner in Luxembourg.
“The take-over of E-Chain fits in with Ordina's ambition to grow into one of the top ICT service providers in Belgium in 2010", says Hans Vets, CEO of Ordina Belgium. “The acquisition will accelerate the attainment of our growth targets, and make Ordina the largest SAP implementer on the local market. "
Stronger in business consultancy and SAP implementations
E-Chain provides expertise and projects in the field of business consultancy (ERP, BI) and is also strong in technological integration services in SAP environments (NetWeaver).
E-Chain Management has a strong focus on high-end customers. ArcelorMittal, Agfa, Glaxo Smithkline, P&T Luxembourg, SNCB, Cargolux and RTL Group are among E-Chain's strategic customers.
Extra expertise
“There is a real shortage of good SAP consultants in the marketplace”, Hans Vets continues. “E-Chain has mainly highly-trained and experienced SAP consultants on its books. If Ordina is to meet the growing demand from its customers and the demand from the market, it cannot do so by organic growth alone. Through this acquisition, Ordina can strengthen its position and offering in the Enterprise Solutions segment."
“The merger with Ordina puts us in a position to serve a larger proportion of the Benelux market", says Bart Embrechts, Managing Director of E-Chain Management. “But it is the end-to-end solution that makes the merger with Ordina most attractive. Now we can offer our customers a complete range of services including technological expertise and solution development. Our employees will be able to carry out even more challenging projects in new markets, and they will have broader career prospects."
About Ordina - "Consulting/ICT/Outsourcing" - Euronext Amsterdam: ORDI
Ordina has about 5300 employees within the Dutch and Belgian market, and works on improving business processes. Ordina Belgium helps its clients set up and run ICT projects and provides associated professional ICT services. Ordina has been operating in Belgium since 1986 and now has over 500 employees there. Ordina aims to grow into a top company in the Belgian IT sector, both through organic growth and by targeted acquisitions.
The holding company Ordina Belgium was set up at the end of 2004 through the merger of six local companies: Ordina België, Ordina Euregio, Ormit België, Ordina Denkart, The Vision Web and Recyfin. At the end of 2005 Ordina Belgium took over Evosoft, another company in the same sector, and in 2006 it added Iterum Services. In August 2007, Ordina bought Belgian company ITG Consulting Group, a specialist in business consulting for financial institutions. Ordina Belgium is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dutch company Ordina N.V., founded in 1973, which had an annual turnover of 665.4 million euro in 2007, making it one of the largest, stock market listed ICT service providers in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Its reference clients in Belgium include Agfa, Alcatel, Arcelor, Belgacom, Coca-Cola, Collins & Aikman, De Post, Delta Lloyd, Digipolis, Electrabel, Fina, FOD Financiën, FOD Justitie, Fortis Bank, ING, Janssen Pharmaceutica, KBC, Komatsu, Lu, Nike, Philip Morris, Sony, Tropicana, Vlaamse Landmaatschappij and Volvo. Ordina Belgium works with leading technology providers like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and JBoss, partners with which it is able to put stable, advanced solutions on the market.
Ordina Belgium
Ilse Pauwels, Marketing Manager
Boomsesteenweg 30, B-2627 Schelle
T: +32 (0)3 866 0022 M: +32 (473) 98 29 58
E: ilse.pauwels@ordina.be