Ericsson has announced that they will be acquiring the French Telecom and Media operations of IT and comunications consultancy leader Devoteam for an undisclosed amount. Devoteam’s Telecom qnd Media operation currently accounts for approximately 7% of Devoteam’s revenues. Through the acquistion, Ericsson will gain some 400 new IT professionals, “service capabilities” from the newly acquired group, as well as Devoteam’s “TV SmartVision” operation. Assuming all closing conditions of the sale are met, the deal should close in the second quarter of 2013.
The announcement comes on the heels of Devoteam’s decision to refocus their business away from activities not considered strategic. With this divestiture, Devoteam expects to now be in a better position to focus more on innovation around their principal value proposition (which, presumably, will now focus on a tighter set of services). The deal is also an important strategic move by Ericsson who has made no secret of their objective to expand their IT services capabilities. Magnus Mandersson, Ericsson’s EVP and Head of Business Unit Global Services, underscored the importance of this acquisition to Ericsson’s strategy adding “Acquiring activities of Devoteam adds unique expertise in complex, strategic and technical consulting engagements that will enable us to immediately enhance the value that we bring to our customers.”
As Ericsson has actually been a strategic partner for quite some time for Devoteam, the orgnaizational transition will hopefully be fairly painless for the affected employees. These employees can at least take some comfort in the fact that they are part of an acquisition that does seem to be a core component of Ericsson’s broader IT capability expansion strategy.