Merger with Cosmosbay-Vectis: Solucom becomes one of the leading independent IT consulting companies

Solucom announces today the acquisition of Cosmosbay~Vectis, a consulting company for management and IT systems.

Cosmosbay~Vectis was founded in 1988 and has more than 200 staff. Its turnover is over € 21M.

Among its clients Cosmosbay~Vectis counts the main key accounts in the banking, industry and services sectors as well as several major government offices.

Strong professional synergy with Solucom

Cosmosbay~Vectis is an independent consultancy firm for management and IT systems, offering services in three areas, which complement Solucom's skills sets very well: management consulting, IT consulting, technology and portals consulting.

Cosmosbay~Vectis's management consultants support the strategic and marketing planning of their clients, in order to accelerate their development, improve their sales performance and carry out the changes and IT projects that emerge.

In IT consulting Cosmosbay~Vectis consults and supports the professional departments of companies in setting up, scaling and monitoring IT projects that are needed for the implementation of their strategies.

And in technology and portals consulting Cosmosbay~Vectis provides companies with technical skills, especially in middleware. The company also handles portal and e-business projects, from marketing positioning through to implementation, to functional and technical design.

Solucom becomes one of the leading independent IT consulting companies in France

This merger lets Solucom fast track its growth, and to advance its strategy it is acquiring a solid position in consulting and support in project management at the major IT sites for professional departments. This position is enhanced by the ability to support these departments in their strategic and marketing thinking.

Cosmosbay~Vectis will also strengthen the group's leadership position in technology consulting, providing it with new skills in the field of portals and e-business.

Solucom in its new configuration has over 850 staff, thereby becoming one of the largest independent IT consulting companies in France.

The new team will benefit from a scale and know-how that will provide access to the largest and most strategic projects on the market.

Over € 20M in additional turnover

Solucom has acquired 94 % of the capital of Cosmosbay~Vectis. This is an entirely cash transaction.
In 2007 Cosmosbay~Vectis reported turnover of € 21.7M, with an operating margin of 7%.

The company will be consolidated as of 1 April 2008 in Solucom's accounts, which means the entire 2008/2009 financial year.

This acquisition has been carried out along the merger lines employed by Solucom. Cosmosbay~Vectis will continue to be managed by its current management team, which will lead its growth within the group.

Similar values, a shared enterprise

“By joining up with Solucom, Cosmosbay~Vectis is going to benefit from new leverage that will let it accelerate its growth”, says Eric Rabaux, the Chief Executive of Cosmosbay~Vectis. “Solucom's corporate plan really attracted us, and we feel we share values, which gives us a lot of confidence in the success of this merger”.

“This merger lets Solucom jump ahead in its growth plan”, announced Pascal Imbert, Solucom's Chairman. “Cosmosbay~Vectis has an amazing image in the consulting market and brings new, very high added-value skills to the group, which are going to let us offer even more comprehensive solutions for our clients in their major projects”.

Upcoming dates: Turnover for 2007/2008 financial year on 6 May 2008 (after close of trading).

Solucom group: Strategy, Design and Governance of Infrastructures

Solucom is an IS consulting group specialising in governance and technology consulting.  Its positioning is summarised by its mission statement: IS performance to serve companies' core business requirements.
The group also consults to Telecoms operators to define their strategy for innovative offerings and services.
Solucom is the partner of the largest French companies in their national and international projects:
Air France-KLM, Alstom, ANPE, Banque de France, BNP Paribas, Bouygues Telecom, Carrefour, Crédit Agricole, EDF, Gaz de France, La Poste, L’Oréal, Ministry of the Economy and Finance, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of the Interior, Neuf Cegetel, Orange, RTE, SFR, SNCF, Société Générale, Suez, Total.
Solucom is listed on compartment C of the Paris Euronext market of NYSE Euronext.
ISIN code: FR0004036036 – LCO; ICB: 9533 – Services Informatiques