IMTECH: Add-on acquisition in ICT

Imtech announced the acquisition of Austrian ICT company Comnet, which has € 6m in sales per annum, and which employs 25 IT specialists. Most of the management team will stay on after the acquisition, guaranteeing continuity. Long term, Comnet will be integrated into Imtech ICT Austria. According to management, the deal should be accretive to EPS. The press release did not include any other financial details.

About Comnet:
Comnet offers hardware and software solutions on the basis of the Cisco (15,5 USD, -2,21%) services programme. It is specialised in implementation of network solutions at medium to large-sized organisations and in the Austrian (semi)public sector. Comnet. Circa 50% of sales is from maintenance and consultancy, while the other half is generated in software and hardware. Comnet’s client base is well diversified, with sectors such as telecom, banking, pharma, industry and (semi)public.
Management expects growth from synergies:

In Austria, Imtech has strong positions in ICT segments such as business solutions (e.g. managed services, SAP consultancy), data centres, and logistics software. Imtech also has a starting position in infrastructure. Comnet’s Cisco alliance allows Imtech ICT Austria to offer its current infrastructure clients better service and greater added value. Imtech ICT at its turn can also offer complementary ICT services to existing Comnet clients. Since Imtechhas years of experience working with Cisco in other countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, UK, Sweden) it can offer extra added value to its Austrian clients via internal collaboration. On balance, this will lead to extra growth in the relatively short term.

Acquisitions YTD:
So far, Imtech has acquired 11 companies with combined sales of € 406m per annum.

Our View:
We believe this acquisition will enhance Imtech’s footprint in Austria, allowing for additional growth. However, at group level, the impact should be marginal as Comnet represents 0.1% of our FY 2012 estimate. Hence, we leave our estimates and target price unchanged.