Will Alten Be A Significant Clinical Trials CRO?

/ August 31, 2021

ER&D services largest pure-play, Alten, has ambitions as a clinical trials contract research organization (CRO). During Q2 2021, the company completed the acquisition of Cmed. Cmed, a clinical trial CRO based in the UK. It is a small firm with EUR 20m in revenues and 180 consultants. It has specialized in oncology, immuno-oncology, cell therapy, and rare disease.

Alten: A Big Rebound in Q2

/ August 18, 2021

Alten impressed investors with its Q2 rebound: revenues had a big rebound (+19.7% yoy at cc/cs) to EUR 714m. We had anticipated this solid rebound: the comps were very favorable (Q2 2020 was down 18.4% yoy organically).

Modis Comes Into the Light with Akka

/ August 15, 2021

Modis came into the light two weeks ago when Adecco announced the acquisition of Akka. Modis is a decently large IT services firm with 2020 revenues of EUR 2,179m. It is little-profitable with an adjusted EBITA margin of 5.7% (2019: 6.3%). Like everyone, the company faced headwinds in 2020, with revenues down 9% in 2020 (2019: -3%).

Sweco: Is Sustainability Good Enough?

/ July 21, 2021

Sweco had a relatively mild financial performance in Q2 2021 with a 2% yoy growth at cc/cs to SEK 5,643m (USD 649m). The company did not benefit from favorable comps (Q2 2020: +2% yoy at cc/cs). Sweco suffered from its lower utilization rate and headcount

Accenture Gets Big in Germany with Umlaut

/ June 15, 2021

Accenture made a big move with the acquisition of Umlaut, an ER&D vendor headquartered in Germany. The transaction comes as a surprise: umlaut brings EUR 350m in revenues. It is the first sizable acquisition that Accenture made for Industry X. Up to now

M&As: Many Tuck-In Acquisitions and Cognizant ESG

/ April 14, 2021

ER&D vendors continue to be very active in M&As, with many tuck-in acquisitions. AFRY is now in full acquisition mode with six transactions in 2021 YTD. Competitor Sweco has also accelerated with four transactions. Accenture has made an unusual transaction by taking over a manufacturer of industrial automation and robots in Brazil for Accenture Industry X. Finally, Cognizant acquired a significant German automotive ER&D vendor, ESG.

Capgemini Betting on Altran To Reach its New 2025 Financial Objectives

/ April 5, 2021

Capgemini unveiled its new financial objectives for the 2020-2025 period, of which Altran will play a significant part. The company now targets a 7 to 9% annual revenue growth at cc and an adjusted EBIT margin of 14% by 2025. Capgemini will reach revenues in the range of EUR 22.2-24.4bn by 2025 (from an estimated pro-forma EUR 16.3bn in 2020) and EUR 3.1-3.4bn in adjusted EBIT (from EUR 1.5bn in 2020).

Hitachi Buys GlobalLogic for USD 9.6bn. A Shock to the ER&D industry

/ March 31, 2021

The Hitachi USD 9.6bn acquisition of GlobalLogic was a shock to the engineering and R&D service industry. Hitachi values GlobalLogic 37.4x its calendar 2021 adjusted EBITDA. The multiple is very high, even for a firm of the quality of GlobalLogic. Only three years ago, Apax sold its 48% stake in GlobalLogic to Switzerland-based Partners Group. At the time, the transaction valued GlobalLogic USD 2bn. Back then, the USD 2bn valuation seemed in line with the Aricent and Luxoft respective acquisitions by Altran and DXC.

Nuclear Engineering Remains Promising for Assystem

/ March 17, 2021

Nuclear engineering remains promising for Assystem. Revenues of nuclear engineering proved slightly more resilient during 2020 (with a 4.2% revenue decline at cc/cs) than the company itself (-5.3%). In H1 2020, the activity was impacted by the lockdown in Europe, as nuclear engineering requires a higher level of onsite work than ER&D services. Revenues bounced back in H2, reaching a slight organic growth.

Akka Shifts its US Strategy and Goes India-Centric

/ March 12, 2021

Akka Technologies made a significant shift in its US strategy with the appointment of Dharam Sheoran. Mr. Sheroan joined from Wipro and must have been an ideal candidate for Akka. At Wipro, he headed several global service lines, including automotive and A&D. His experience, therefore, matches Akka’s presence and ambitions in the country.

Assystem Betting on Long-Term with Acquisition in India

/ March 8, 2021

Assystem is betting on the long-term with its 99% acquisition of an Indian engineering firm, STUP Consultants. STUP is headquartered in Mumbai, had revenues of approximately EUR 20m and a headcount of 1.1k. It provides transport infrastructure engineering services, mostly around highways, railways, metros, and airports. The company is also present in water treatment and energy engineering.

DXC Turns Down Atos’ Bid as Low

/ February 6, 2021

Unsurprisingly, DXC Technology turned down Atos’ offer to acquire the firm. DXC considered it, USD 10bn, as reported by Reuters, as too low. The company considers it is going through a turn-around. Also, 16 months into the job, DXC’s CEO, Mike Salvino, believed it was too early to sell the Tysons, VA-based firm.

With Softvision, Cognizant Is Building A New EPAM

/ January 26, 2021

In the past three years, Cognizant has been building Softvision as a new EPAM. Like EPAM, Softvision has grown very fast: Softvision 10-12k employees currently, from 2.8k employees at the time of its acquisition in late 2018.

Charles River Gains Large Molecules Expertise, Targeting Biotechs

/ January 13, 2021

Charles River Labs (CRL) will gain further expertise for biotechs. The company is to acquire San Francisco-based Distributed Bio, a large molecules specialist firm focusing on antibody discovery. Distributed Bio will become part of CRL’s core R&D business, Discovery & Safety Assessment.

UPDATED: Atos Approaches DXC in a USD 10bn Transaction

/ January 7, 2021

Following a Reuters news release, European IT services vendor Atos confirmed it had submitted to the Board of DXC an unsolicited non-binding offer to acquire the firm. The offer is at a preliminary stage. Reuters estimated Atos’ offer to USD 10bn.