Orange acquires Basefarm Holding and becomes a European leader in cloud computing services for the enterprise sector
Orange announces the acquisition of 100% of the capital of Basefarm Holding AS, a major player in cloud infrastructure and critical application services in Europe.
This acquisition is set to reinforce Orange Business Services’ position in the cloud computing services market for which it is already leader in France and a significant player in Europe.
Following a competitive tender process initiated by Abry Partners for its stake in Basefarm, the Orange Group, through its enterprise subsidiary Orange Business Services, has announced today the signature of a contract to acquire 100% of the company’s capital for an enterprise value of 350 million euros.
Basefarm is a leading European player in cloud-based infrastructure and services, as well as the management of critical applications and data analysis. The company, which recorded revenues of over 100 million euros in 2017, has enjoyed strong growth since 2015. Basefarm has a strong operational presence in several European countries, particularly in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and in Germany, where it boasts a cutting-edge big data activity. Its business proposition lies at the forefront of the most innovative services in cloud computing and Big data and Artificial Intelligence thanks to the widely-recognized expertise of its 550 employees and to the high satisfaction from its customers.
Following the recent purchase of Business & Decision, the acquisition of Basefarm represents an important step forward in Orange Business Services’ development strategy. With its existing team of 1,600 cloud computing experts, Orange Business Services is currently growing by around 15 to 20% each year on the global market in this sector. The acquisition of Basefarm will complement its existing catalogue of offers and will reinforce its strategic position by bringing a new source of expertise and innovative technologies, particularly in data management, the management of critical applications, Big Data and multi-cloud services. The addition of Basefarm will also complete the geographical reach of Orange’s services, enabling it to become a leading player in Europe.
By joining forces with Orange Business Services, Basefarm will gain a unique opportunity to accelerate growth in public and private cloud-services while benefitting from access to Orange’s global networks and infrastructure.
“We are very proud to announce the acquisition of Basefarm, which will mark a major milestone in our international development. In particular, the company’s intergration will enable us to significantly extend our Big Data and critical application management services on a rapidly consolidating market. In addition to our ability to offer access to public or private cloud infrastructure, it is above all our capacity to propose enriched, automated services to our customers, wherever they are in the world, that will enable us to support companies as they transform onto new, digital models based on cloud-computing, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence,” said Helmut Reisinger, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Business Services.
“We are very pleased with Orange’s decision to acquire Basefarm, a sign of our continued success in Europe. Orange is already a major player in the cloud services business and our two companies are very well matched in terms of our product portfolio, and also when it comes to geographical spread. Together we’re able to build a pan-European leader in cloud managed services, something which will benefit Basefarm and our customers” said Fredrik Ohlsen, CEO Basefarm.
Basefarm was advised on the transaction by Jefferies International. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place during the third quarter of 2018 and is conditional upon the approbation of the relevant competition authorities.
About Basefarm
Basefarm is a European Managed Service Provider. We create market leaders by integrating the key competencies for digital transformation – big data, cloud computing and information security, into one service offering. Our delivery model covers everything from ”idea to cable”; we provide strategic advice, implementation projects and infrastructure operations under one management and on any cloud. Basefarm was founded in 2000 and our team of 530+ top engineers and advisors are servicing global clients from our European offices and data centres in Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Basefarm was top ranked in Whitelane’s IT Outsourcing study Nordics 2018 and was recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor in the European Cloud Computing Market 2015 for our unique methodology in application management. The unbelievable Machine Company *um, part of the Basefarm group, was named Innovator of The Year 2018 by German business magazine brand eins Wissen and Data Analytics Leader by ISG Provider Lens Germany 2018.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2017 and 150,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 91,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 202 million mobile customers and 20 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 28 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
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For further information please contact:
Anna Jäger, VP Marketing Basefarm
[email protected]
+46 735 26 00 91