| [21/02/2001] |
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| caatoosee acquires majority stake in leading East Asian software group |
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| New quality of international expansion through investment in PT Sigma Cipta Caraka |
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| In presence of the German President Johannes Rau, the Executive Board of and the Board of Directors of Indonesia's PT Sigma Cipta Caraka today signed a wide-ranging partnership agreement between the Sigma Group and . |
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Under the agreement, which was signed in Jakarta today, is acquiring 54.84% of the share capital of PT Sigma Cipta Caraka, the holding company of the Indonesian Sigma Group. The agreement also gives the option of purchasing further Sigma shares at a later date.
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The Sigma Group, which is the leading Indonesian IT solutions provider, generated revenues of US$ 19 million last year with just under 500 employees. For the current fiscal year, the group plans to increase its revenues to over US$ 40 million and is forecasting EBIT of US$ 7.5 million. To date, the Sigma Group has generated sales totalling about USD 10 million in fiscal 2001.
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In view of the strong performance by PT Sigma Cipta Caraka, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has expressed interest in acquiring a stake in the Indonesian IT specialist. The IFC is the private-sector investment bank of the World Bank.
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| caatoosee boosts international presence |
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| "The partnership with Sigma will provide caatoosee with rapid access to the fast growing Asian market", explained Guido Alt, CEO of . "Sigma is the first Indonesian IT provider that has managed to place its portfolio of solutions in other markets of the Asia-Pacific region". |
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The product and service portfolio of the Sigma Group, which was founded in 1987, is an ideal fit for the service range of the caatoosee Group. Sigma offers software solutions that are well established in the market focusing on the financial services sector. The Indonesian software group offers advanced networking and connectivity solutions that can be integrated into caatoosee's platform and data-integration systems. "Their expertise in the financial services industry will enable caatoosee to step up its market penetration in this sector on an international scale", stressed Alt. The transaction will also provide caatoosee with significant synergies in ASP-driven software development and marketing. The investment in the Sigma Group will raise the number of caatoosee's employees to almost 900.
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| Development "following the sun" |
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| Both companies anticipate that the networking of their development capacities in Eastern Europe and Asia will provide them with clear benefits. "We call it 'development following the sun'", says Toto Sugiri, Chairman of PT Sigma Cipta Caraka. The time difference between Europe and Asia will enable them to work on joint projects and products practically around the clock. "Our teams in Bali will work on the respective components and then pass them on to their colleagues in Eastern Europe, where their work will be continued." Both partners have already successfully tested this form of collaboration: and Sigma have been practising this model of networked product development for almost a year. In 2000, Sigma and Balicamp established a unique ISO 9001-certified development centre, where currently over 100 programmers are developing sophisticated products and solutions. Moreover, this development expertise is not only applied to its own product development. Sigma also offers outsourcing services in various IT segments and covers clients such as Microsoft, Oracle and leading financial institutions. |
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| Joint ASP strategy |
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| A similar strategy unites , which specialises in information logistics solutions, and Sigma, the IT specialist, in the field of application service providing (ASP). "Both caatoosee and us are aiming to provide software solutions as a service", says Sigma Chairman Sugiri. Sigma already has a wealth of expertise in this segment and offers ASP solutions based on third-party and proprietary products. "Our banking software Alpha Bits has established itself as an effective solution, particularly for mid-sized financial institutions", explains Sugiri. The software is often completely provided externally instead of being implemented at the customer's premises. "To date, five banks have outsourced their systems into our computer centre", adds Sugiri. |
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| Rapid integration planned |
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| The two companies will be setting up a separate integration board to facilitate the rapid integration of the Sigma Group. The Executive Board of is convinced that its new partner can be quickly integrated into the Group. "We have conducted numerous discussions in recent months and reached agreement in all areas", adds Alt. He stresses that the agreement also provides for the integration of Sigma employees into the management of . This plan will be substantially facilitated by the fact that most senior managers at PT Sigma Cipta Caraka speak German. "Many of them have either studied in Germany or lived there for several years and are therefore well-acquainted with our European culture", says Alt. |
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