Global IT consulting firm Atos is negotiating to sell its Italian operations to Lutech, an Italian provider of IT services and solutions. Lutech is backed by Apax Partners -- a private equity firm that frequently acquires MSP, MSSP and IT consulting businesses.
This is M&A deal number 998 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.
The Atos Italy-Lutech deal is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2023, the firms said. The proposed deal does not include the Atos EuroHPC business in Italy; Atos will retain that business.
Atos Business Evolution
Atos in mid-2022 announced a CEO exit and breakup plan that will reorganize the company into two publicly held businesses.
Rumors about a possible Atos company breakup or asset sales have swirled on and off for more than a year — even as Atos continued to acquire IT consulting firms focused on Salesforce, Snowflake, ServiceNow, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure.
In a prepared statement about the negotiations with Lutech, Atos Group Senior Executive VP Diane Galbe said:
“This additional transaction will enable us to secure 2/3rd of our €700 million divestment program which is well under way. It demonstrates our ability to deliver on our commitments and to execute our transformation plan in a swift and efficient manner. The combined entity, as a leader in the Italian market, would offer strong opportunities to our Italian teams, with Atos Italia remaining a key partner of the Group for global operations and the EuroHPC contracts retained by the Atos Group.”
Apax Partners: MSP Acquisition Experience
Lutech owner Apax Partners has a lengthy track record investing in and/or acquiring MSPs, managed security services providers (MSSPs), telecom companies and cybersecurity businesses.
Example Apax Partners M&A deals from 2021 included:
- Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus acquired T-Mobile Netherlands.
- Apax acquired Infogain, a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP.
- Cloud security company Coalfire, backed by Apax, acquired penetration testing and cybersecurity firm Neuralys.
- Apax acquired Lutech.
- Global software consultancy ThoughtWorks, backed by Apax, acquired IT consulting firm Fourkind.
- Apax acquired Herjavec Group, the Top 250 MSSP led by Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec.
Apax has a major war chest for continued acquisitions. The private equity firm raised $1.75 billion in 2021 for the Apax Digital Fund II (also known as ADF II).
