SOA People acquires BvD-it Services and becomes the n° 1 SAP service provider in Belgium with 250 employees

Brussels, March 15^th 2010  

SOA People, an internationally renowned group specialised in the implementation of SAP solutions, acquires a 100% stake in BvD-it Services, active in the same industry. Through this acquisition, SOA People strengthens its market position in SAP consultancy, thus becoming the first SAP service provider in Belgium and in Luxembourg, offering tailored SAP solutions for both corporate accounts as well as for SMEs.

Vincent Simioni, Managing Partner at SOA People, explains: « The perfect complementarity of services offered by SOA People and BvD-it Services will allow us to promote a diversified range of solutions to our existing clients as well as to new clients, who will gain access to a much broader service offering. For example, with the Business Intelligence solution of BvD-it Services we can now perfectly meet the demands of our current clients, for whom we recently launched the creation of a « BI » solution. BvD-it Services therefore allows us to gain up to 2 years in our go-to-market, proving clear synergies and added value from day one. »

Joël Pissoort remains Managing Director of BvD-it Services and becomes a member of the management team at SOA People: « We are happy and proud to join forces with SOA People; the experience and competence of the group's management team enabled SOA People, despite the current crisis, to build a healthy, prosperous and durable enterprise where human capital is key, which is a vital asset for our employees as well as for our customers. The project management methodologies as well as the support offerings of SOA People will be highly welcomed by our existing customers. The complementarity of our teams and solutions will allow us to become a major player in the SAP community, providing our clients with high quality services and offering our employees new career opportunities. »   

« Since its incorporation in February 2007, SOA People's development has only consisted of purely organic growth. This major acquisition in Belgium shows our willingness to accelerate our positioning as the leading SAP products & services provider in the Belgium-Luxembourg market » adds Vincent Simioni.

Khalil Hodaibi, the newly appointed CEO and Chairman of the Group concludes: «BvD-it Services is a befriended company with whom we have already established a firm partnership over the past years. And it is with great pleasure that I welcome Joël to the Group's management team; we have known and respected each other since a long time. 

With 350 employees and well over 100 clients, the Group will realise in 2010 a turnover of 40 million €. From there on we aim to reach the 100 million € target by 2015. With this newly acquired number 1 position in Belgium we have achieved a new milestone within our European growth strategy. By 2013 we aim to triple the size of our French subsidiary, consisting today of 100 employees. We also plan to shortly open a new subsidiary in the Netherlands, and are simultaneously analysing the business potential of the German market.  The strength of our business model allows us to implement our strategy by focusing on high value added service offerings, on smoothly run processes and on a flexible organizational structure built on highly motivated and talented managers. »