“The acquisition was made because we found many complementary competences, as well as a portfolio of clients, especially private ones, who can generate long-term contracts,” said Dan Roman, general manager of Kapsch Romania.
Through the acquisition of Squario, Kapsch also covers the IT business solutions area. The value of the transaction exceeds EUR2 million, had has in part already been paid, while the other part will be paid in installments, depending on the company’s performance, market sources told ZF.
The two parties did not offer details on the value of the transaction.
The majority shareholder of the two companies was Daniel Oancea, who became an entrepreneur after leaving Oracle Romania in 2008.
In the past four years the companies reached 30 employees and turnovers of EUR2 million and their clients include Rompetrol, BNR, Orange, Vodafone, and the public sector.
“We were like a luxury boutique and we targeted medium and top clients on the market,” Oancea said.
Kapsch is also considering two new acquisitions on the Romanian market and opening of IT centers in cities like Iasi or Cluj, apart from the two companies already bought in Bucharest and Sibiu, Dan Roman said in a press conference.
“We have identified two other companies with which we could conclude a transaction. Our criteria are the ones we announced last year: IT companies operating on niche markets, which have a good cash flow and a good profitability, and which are well “connected” with clients through the services they provide,” Dan Roman said.
In November 2011, the Austrian group announced it had a EUR10 million budget for acquisitions in Romania.
Kapsch was founded in 1892 in Vienna, as a telegraph machine maker, and is a family business that has expanded to several countries in the region, through three divisions: BusinessCom (IT&C), CarrierCom (telecom and railroad communications) and TrafficCom (highway taxation equipment and solutions).
In Romania, the group targets a EUR15 million within three years for its BusinessCom division.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)