Computacenter is negotiating to buy BT France’s domestic services business, in an acquisition that is expected to take place in the latter half of 2020.
In a London Stock Exchange filing, the UK-headquartered reseller said the acquisition will enable Computacenter to strengthen its position in the French networking market.
Computacenter CEO Mike Norris said: “The current coronavirus pandemic shows the importance of secure and reliable networks to our customers and this deal would significantly strengthen our existing French business in this growth area.
“It would bring our customer offering in France closer to the broader portfolio in our larger European markets.”
BT France is an IT network infrastructure services business that logged revenues of £104 million in its fiscal year, ending March 2019. Computacenter’s revenues in France totalled €644.7 million in 2019.
The negotiations are subject to consultations with works councils over a minimum of two months, plus any additional French Government guidance issued as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The planned transaction is part of BT’s ongoing divestment strategy to streamline the telco behemoth’s global unit, as it pivots to next-generation networking, cloud and security. Three months ago it flogged its Spanish division to a local PE firm.
Global BT’s CEO, Bas Burger, said: “With this agreement we are close to reaching another milestone in the execution of our strategy to make BT Global a more agile business focused on the growing requirements of our multinational customers.”
Computacenter also intends to enter into a partnership agreement in France with BT, ensuring continuity for existing customers.
