The acquisition strengthens EDB's position as by far the largest IT company in Norway. It will also reinforce EDB's competitive position as one of the leading IT vendors in the Nordic market. Following the acquisition of IS Partner, EDB will have annual revenue in the order of NOK 8 billion, 6,000 employees and an order backlog of NOK 15,4 billion.

The acquisition of IS Partner will give EDB world-leading IT expertise for oil and gas related activities and other industries.

 

Major international potential
"IS Partner is the leading IT environment in Norway for the oil and gas sector, and offers major international potential. The acquisition opens up entirely new opportunities for EDB as a supplier to major industrial businesses, both in the Norwegian market and internationally. This gives us a sound platform for EDB to continue its profitable growth in the years ahead ", comments Endre Rangnes, CEO of EDB.

 

"With EDB we have found a good Norwegian industrial owner for IS Partner and a strong strategic IT partner for StatoilHydro. We have created a strong basis for IS Partner to continue to develop its expertise, and for continuing its business with StatoilHydro and other customers", comments Hilde Merete Aasheim, Executive Vice President for Staffs and Corporate Services at StatoilHydro.

 

The agreement secures long-term deliveries to key customers
StatoilHydro, Hydro and other major customers have entered into long-term contracts with IS Partner for IT services which will continue under EDB's ownership. IS Partner entered into an agreement on 1 January 2008 to supply IT services to StatoilHydro for a 4-year period. Hydro signed a 5-year agreement with IS Partner in October 2007, and a number of other customers have also entered into multi-year agreements with IS Partner. The company has an estimated order backlog of approximately NOK 3 billion.

 

About IS Partner
IS Partner is the third largest vendor of IT services in Norway, with 2007 revenue in the order of NOK 1.7 billion and good profitability.

 

IS Partner delivers a complete range of services for the entire value chain, and has in-depth expertise in consulting, development and operations. The company has extensive and broadly based global industrial expertise in terms of both business and work processes, including extensive SAP and Oracle expertise. IS Partner has an extremely strong track record of delivery success - with almost 95% of all assignments delivered on time and within budget. Using 1,700 servers at three locations, the company's current operational responsibilities include 500 applications and more than 20,000 workstations for professional PC users, and it manages daily e-mail traffic in the order of 500,000 sent and received e-mails. IS Partner specialises in services for industrial customers, including the oil and gas sector, and has sound international vendor experience. The company's largest customers are StatoilHydro, Hydro, Yara, Borealis and Polymers. The company has 1,000 employees, of which 640 are permanent employees and 360 are consultants on contract. IS Partner operates from its head office in Oslo. The company also has facilities in Bergen and Porsgrunn, and has a presence in 50 countries around the world.

 

The business was first incorporated as Hydro IS Partner in 1999 on the basis of Hydro's IT unit Hydro Data, and has operated as an independent legal entity since 2003. As a result of the merger of the oil and gas activities of Statoil and Hydro, the company was renamed IS Partner in 2007.

 

IS Partner's Chief Executive Officer, Ivar Arne Børset, will continue to run the company and will be a member of EDB's executive management team.

 

Strengthens EDB's focus on industrial customers
Using IS Partner as its base, EDB will establish a separate industry vertical for oil and gas and other industries.

"The oil and gas sector accounts for 25% of Norwegian GDP, and this will be a large and very attractive market for IT services. IS Partner will bring to EDB its strong expertise for industrial customers, and this combined with our technology expertise will make us a very competitive supplier for major industrial customers", explains Endre Rangnes.

 

About the transaction
EDB will purchase 100% of the share capital of IS Partner AS from StatoilHydro ASA. EDB will pay NOK 1,192 million for the shares, adjusted for cash holdings at the time of acquisition. EDB expects the acquisition to produce cost synergies in the order of NOK 110-120 million, and the transaction is expected to be accretive for normalised earnings per share in 2008.

The purchase will be financed by EDB's liquid assets and new credit facilities. The agreement is conditional on approval by the Norwegian competition authorities. EDB expects to carry out the acquisition and consolidation of IS Partner during first quarter of 2008. For further information about the transaction: www.edb.com

 

Presentation: EDB aquires IS Partner 

 

Endre Rangnes, CEO. Tel: + 47 22 77 21 01

Kristian Kuvaas Johansen, EVP and CFO. Tel: + 47 476 03 334

Geir Remman, EVP - Corporate Communications. Tel:  + 47 970 55 017

 

EDB Business Partner is a leading Nordic stock exchange listed IT company. The EDB group has more than 5,000 employees, and reported turnover of NOK 5.8 billion in 2006. EDB delivers solutions that cover the entire range of business critical IT services from application services and industry-specific solutions through to IT operating services and network solutions. EDB is committed to being a close and attentive IT partner that helps its customers operate more efficiently and achieve their business objectives. EDB Business Partner is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code: EDBASA.