Sources - Imtech offloads UK IBM arm to CSI
Imtech understood to have exited from IBM business just five years after acquiring Real Solutions
By Doug Woodburn
09 Dec 2013
Pan-European technical services giant Imtech has offloaded its UK IBM business to CSI Group just five years after buying it, CRN understands.
Midmarket specialist CSI revealed in a short news release yesterday that it had grabbed the IBM business of an unnamed firm, its second acquisition inside a week.
According to multiple sources, the business in question belongs to Imtech - a Netherlands-based technical solutions goliath whose IBM presence is based on 2008 acquisition Real Solutions.
At the time Imtech acquired it, Real Solutions boasted revenues of £32m, although onlookers say the business has since shrunk following the departure of several of its key staff in 2009, including managing director Paul McCord and sales director Steve Green.
Sources estimated that about 50 staff based in Chessington will move over to CSI as a result of the deal.
Imtech could not be reached for comment although one onlooker said the business is a better fit for CSI than Imtech, which is still recovering from its discovery of financial irregularities across several big projects on the continent.
"When Imtech bought Real Solutions it didn't fit in with everything else they did and a lot of the key players have left," said the source, who wished not to be named. "It doesn't surprise me they wanted to get rid of it as it wasn't core. Real Solutions is an old iSeries business so you can see why CSI would want the customer base."
In a statement, Richard Potts, vice president, business partners at IBM UK and Ireland said he was delighted to see the acquisition go through.
"From an IBM perspective this brings together two important business partners with complementary skills and capabilities," he said.
Channel veteran Tom Kelly predicted the channel would see more moves like this in 2014 as resellers "focus on the vendors with the best margin retention".
Steve Ellis, managing director of IBM partner APSU said: "This shows that the trend of consolidation in the marketplace is continuing."