EDB will pay NOK 259.5 million for the two companies at the time of the take-over.  Depending on future turnover there may be an additional purchase sum in connection to the take-over of Spring Consulting.  Expected turnover for 2006 is approximately NOK 400 million.  Total EBITA margin for the acquired companies is expected to exceed EDB's EBITA margin as per 30.09.05.

 

"With these acquisitions EDB is dedicatedly entering the Norwegian and Nordic market for application services.  We have a great belief in the development of this market during the years to come.  EDB already has significant competency within application development and application operations.  Avenir and Spring with their business will give EDB a new and important link in the value chain.  The agreements are strategically, marketing and economically very important to EDB", says Endre Rangnes, CEO of EDB.  EDB will gain large SAP- and Microsoft environments, and will as a result be one of the leading actors in the Norwegian and Nordic applications services market.

 

The agreement means that EDB will pay Ementor NOK 100.5 million covering the acquisition of the Avenir division.  The operation transferred to EDB has 241 employees.  201 of these employees are located in Oslo, while 40 employees are located in Bergen.  For 2005 Avenir expects a turnover of approximately NOK 220 million, and the company is mainly occupied within public sector, oil and energy and banking and finance.  The business areas taken over by EDB has significant expertise within Microsoft, SAP-, IBM and Oracle technology, as well as project management, system development and -integration, adjustment and implementation of standard systems.

 

The acquisition of the company does not constitute any reduction of employees or other cost reducing activities for EDB. 

 

Ementor has during 2005 carried out significant result improvement activities, including downsizing and discontinuance of loss projects.  During a transition period in 2006, Ementor will cover some administrative costs connected to the Avenir business, as well as buying contractual consultancy services from EDB/Avenir.  Combined with increased invoicing rate, these activities will secure sound revenue for EDB/Avenir in 2006.

 

The company will still be headed by Lars-Erik Johannessen.

 

The agreement means that EDB takes over 100 percent of the shares of Spring Consulting AS and Spring Consulting AB, and directly and indirectly 63 percent of the shares of Danish subsidiary Spring Consulting AS.  Total amount to be paid at take-over is NOK 159 million.  In the event of turnover exceeding NOK 146 million in 2006, EDB will pay an additional sum of maximum NOK 28 million.  Key personnel are contractually committed to EDB of up to 24 months. 

 

Spring Consulting AS will still be headed by Johnny Rindahl.

 

Spring Consulting has 114 employees in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, working with SAP solutions for the Scandinavian market.  The company was established in 2000, and has shown a strong growth and good revenue. The turnover for 2005 was NOK 130 million - whereof NOK 54 million comes from the Swedish branch.  Spring Consulting Denmark is established as from 1 January 2006. Spring Consulting had a total EBITA margin of 13 percent.

 

The operation taken over by EDB is focusing on implementation and development of SAP solutions as business support to the various customer demands.  In addition focus is directed to areas like Portals, Integration, Customer Relations Management, Business Intelligence, Human Resources, Workflow, Archive, Operations and Architecture.

 

The acquisitions require approval from the Norwegian Competition Authority, and are expected to be carried out during February.  EDB will take over both companies financially as per 01 January 2006.

 

The acquisition will be financed from existing credit facilities.

 

 

 

EDB Business Partner ASA is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code EDBASA. 

More information on EDB can be found at:  www.edb.com.