Getronics

Getronics is an ICT service company, founded in 1887, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Since 2017, the company is privately owned by Bottega InvestCo S.à r.l. The majority shareholder of Bottega is the US/Brazilian entrepreneur Nana Baffour, who operates in the IT services market through Grupo Cimcorp in Brazil^[7].

The business has gone through numerous mergers and divisions, having expanded significantly under its former AURELIUS from 2012 to 2017.

In 2012, KPN sold a majority stake of Getronics Europe and APAC to the AURELIUS Group, a German publicly listed industrial holding company. KPN sold Getronics LATAM businesses to OpenGate Capital, a global private equity firm.^[8]

AURELIUS had also acquired Thales in Spain and Argentina earlier in 2012,^[9] which has been rebranded to Connectis and is now a key member of the Getronics family. In late 2013 the Getronics family acquired NEC Enterprise Solutions^[10] in the UK and Spain to further grow its UC services business.

AURELIUS has continued to add other ICT companies to their portfolio: Steria Iberica in Spain (2013),^[11] Telvent in Spain and South America (2014) (both IT consulting companies); and Individual Desktop Solutions (IDS)^[12] from T-Systems in Germany. IDS was then sold again in 2016.^[13]

In July 2015, Getronics announced its partnership with U.S.-based partner CompuCom, to lead the Global Workspace Alliance^[14] (former Getronics Workspace Alliance).

In April 2016, the Getronics family announced the completion of the acquisition of Colt’s managed cloud business^[15] in 11 countries, as well as the launch of its Managed Cloud Services portfolio.

Global Workspace Alliance

Led jointly by Getronics and CompuCom, the Global Workspace Alliance (GWA) combines the capabilities of local service providers to supply IT support to multinational companies around the world, delivering field and remote services. Alliance members share common processes, methods and tools to ensure seamless delivery across regions. Members include Getronics along with CompuCom, SPIE, Tecnocom, AGCN, Centric, InfoCare, S&T, Eire Systems, NSC and Topnew Info^[16][17][18] Global Workspace Alliance 2.0 was launched in April 2016.^[19]

History

Founding

In 1887, Amsterdam, the company was created as Electrotechnical Factory N.V. by Groeneveld, van der Pol & Co. (GVPC) The enterprise was involved with electrical installations, such as monitoring and control of public facilities and shipping.^[20]

Name changes

After the World War II GVPC set up a technical sales office Groenpol as a separate entity.

In 1950, the holding company GVPC changed its name to Groenpol NV.

In 1965 the distribution division became Groenpol Industrial Sales.

In 1968, Groenpol NV merged with another listed company, Geveke SA. The new name was Geveke & Groenpol NV. In 1970, SHV brought the holding company.

In 1972, Groenpol Industrial Sales made a partial takeover of the technical trading Merchant & Co, the company started sales and service of computer peripherals. Meanwhile, the company also had offices in Belgium, France and Germany. In the same year the name was changed to Geveke Electronics.

In 1985 under the name 'Geveke Electronics' the company was introduced on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

In 1988, its name changed to Getronics NV. Getronics was traded by the AMX index abbreviation 23dGET. The main focus of the company became computer networking and maintenance.

Acquisition Trail

In 1999 Getronics acquired Wang Global (who had recently acquired Olivetti) for 3.7 billion guilders. Wang Global, based in the United States, was active in 42 countries, which made Getronics a truly global player and this was strategically advantageous for working with Getronics' international customers.^[21]

On March 14, 2005, Getronics completed the acquisition of PinkRoccade. Getronics paid a total of €355 million in cash.^[22] With the acquisition, it became the largest IT service company in the Netherlands under the name Getronics PinkRoccade.

The name was shortened from Getronics PinkRoccade, on October 13, 2008, to the internationally well-known Getronics. On June 29, 2005, a stock exchange reverse stock split of 7 to 1 took place.

In early 2007, Getronics had approximately 24,000 employees in more than 25 countries. Around the beginning of July 2007 several companies look at taking over Getronics: KPN, Capgemini^[23] and an unnamed American private equity firm.^[24] On July 30, KPN made a bid of 766 million euros. The acquisition of Getronics was confirmed on October 15, 2007 by KPN.^[25] Getronics was no longer listed on Euronext after December 12, 2007.^[26]

In October 2007, KPN acquired Getronics.^[27]

In June 2008, Getronics announced that its US operations (formerly Wang) to CompuCom for cash and a minority stake in CompuCom. These activities include operations in Canada the United States and in Mexico.^[28]

The Dutch activities of Getronics first went under the name KPN Corporate Market,^[29] and from January 1, 2013 under the name 'KPN IT Solutions'.^[30] For international business the name Getronics has remained in place.

In 2012, KPN sold a majority stake of Getronics Europe and APAC to the AURELIUS Group, a German publicly listed industrial holding company. KPN sold Getronics LATAM businesses to OpenGate Capital, a global private equity firm.^[8]

In 2017, Getronics Group (with both Connectis and Getronics brands) was acquired by strategic investor Bottega InvestCo S.à r.l. The majority shareholder of Bottega is the US/Brazilian entrepreneur Nana Baffour, who operates in the IT services market through Grupo Cimcorp in Brazil; prestigious financing partners include White Oak Global Advisors, Permira PDM and H.I.G. WhiteHorse.^[31]

Board Chairmen – CEOs

• 1983 – 1999 – Ton Risseeuw
• 1999 – 2001 – Cees van Luijk RA (from PricewaterhouseCoopers)
• 2001 – 2003 – Peter van Voorst (since 1986, Peter van Voorst part of Getronics' board of directors)
• 2003 – 2007 – Klaas Wagenaar (include CFO software company Baan)
• 2007 – 2011 – Erik van der Meijden (from HP, appointed by KPN)
• 2011 – September 30, 2013 – Steven Schilfgaarde (former CFO Getronics Erik van der Meijden coming from KPN)^[32]
• 2012-2013 - Andreas Ziegenhein
• 2013- Mark Cook ^[33]

References