Wincor Nixdorf Acquire Datalect

Datalect, with a workforce of 300 people and annual sales of around €25 million, provides IT services in several areas, including helpdesk, networking, hardware maintenance and software support. By acquiring Datalect, Wincor Nixdorf is continuing its successful business development in the U.K. In May, the Paderborn-based company took over the entire IT operation of more than 3,900 ATMs in the Barclays Group. Wincor Nixdorf is successfully implementing its expansion strategy into software and IT services to tap further growth opportunities. The solutions and services areas, for instance, grew to 39 percent of the group’s total sales in fiscal 2002/2003 from 33 percent in 1999 when the company became independent. In fiscal 2002/2003, Wincor Nixdorf reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €104 million on sales of €1.4 billion. By expanding its services business, Wincor Nixdorf intends to offer retail companies and banks IT services across Europe. With the acquisition of Datalect, the number of Wincor Nixdorf employees has increased to 6,000. Datalect will operate as an independent entity within the group. The companys service technicians will strengthen Wincor Nixdorfs IT service resources in the U.K. market, which will result in over 400 employees working in this area. In addition, Datalect cooperates with several leading U.K. systems integrators and has solution partnerships with numerous global operating IT and communications companies. In March 2004, Datalect was the first service company to receive the BS 1500 certification from the British Standards Institution. This British standard is the first in the world for IT service management.