Atos purchase of KPMG units could spark IT consolidation.

Financial News, June, 2002

Byline: Michael Hoare

The acquisition of the UK and Dutch consulting businesses of accounting firm KPMG by Atos Origin, the French IT company, should hasten consolidation in the sector, according to analysts. The [euro]657m ($615m) deal, constructed by UBS Warburg and Goldman Sachs, will put pressure on other companies in technology consulting, such as Getronics in the Netherlands, Dimension Data in South Africa and Logica in the UK.

Mark Bryan, an analyst at ABN Amro, said: "IT services is an industry ripe for consolidation with excess supplier that requires channel rationalisation. These are initial signs of its emergence."

The next step in consolidation could be the purchase of KPMG Consulting's operations in Germany, where it also has a...

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