adesso AG acquires Austrian IT service provider beiT Consulting GmbH

Dortmund/Vienna, 29 January 2009– adesso AG is continuing to implement its expansion strategy by taking over Vienna-based beiT Consulting GmbH. Thanks to the acquisition of the successful company with 30 employees and annual sales of EUR 3.4 million in 2008 and planned EUR 5 million in 2009 adesso has now created the ideal platform to enter the Austrian market.

beiT Consulting GmbH is well established in Austria, profitable and at the end of 2008 was presented with one of the country's most renowned business awards by business paper WirtschaftsBlatt and PricewaterhouseCoopers, decorating it as one of “Austria’s Leading Companies”.

As was previously the case in Switzerland, adesso will be incrementally expanding its business model to Austria based on existing customers and the available service portfolio. This will include swiftly renaming beiT Consulting into adesso Austria GmbH and expanding the current service range by adesso components as well as the industry-specific consulting approach.

As part of adesso Group with 600 employees then, beiT Consulting resp. adesso Austria, will quickly achieve considerable visibility in the Austrian market and will also be able to offer large-scale projects. In the medium-term adesso aims to benefit from the traditionally close business ties between Austria and Eastern Europe and to use the location as a bridgehead to growing regions.

Austria's pioneering role in Europe when it comes to eGovernment as well as the expertise held in beiT Consulting in the media industry will also be a valuable asset to adesso’s industry-specific consulting approach. The company will be able to derive specialised consulting and IT services which it can offer in Germany and Switzerland.

The purchase price was agreed at EUR 2.7 million in cash as well as a variable payment with a target volume of a further EUR 1.5 million depending on reaching increasing earnings targets in the new country company in the coming two years. The fixed part of the acquisition price is being funded with an acquisition loan, while the variable component will be paid from cash flows.

The acquisition is still under the suspensive condition of approval by supervisory bodies.