Engineering consultant and network services provider Groupe Silicomp plans to acquire rival Belgian network services firm QConsulting NV. Under terms of the deal, Paris, France-based Silicomp will pay between 900,000 euros ($900,000) in shares and 550,000 euros ($550,000) in shares and 40,000 Silicomp treasury shares depending on the company achieving certain objectives in 2003 and 2004.
Antwerp, Belgium-based QConsulting specializes in providing remote network management services for its clients in the Belgian market, including managed VPNs, and managed security services including anti-virus systems implementation, intrusion-detection, and wireless LAN integration.
Through the purchase, Silicomp takes on board a further 30 employees as well as a network operating center providing remote managed services. In its full year 2002, QConsulting expects to make revenue of 3m euros ($3m) and an operating margin of 5%. Silicomp generates the majority of its revenue by providing engineering consulting and integration services in the French, Asian, and Swiss markets, and the move will enable the company to expand its services into network and security consulting in the Begian market.
Source: Computerwire
