French computer-services provider Atos SE agreed to buy Syntel Inc in a US$3.4 billion cash deal to boost the company’s access to US customers, including financials, such as American Express Co and State Street Corp.
At US$41 per share, the transaction is also a way for acquisitive Atos to bounce back from a rebuffed bid eight months ago on Gemalto NV, which secures digital payments for banks and other clients.
The per-share figure is 4.8 percent more than Syntel’s closing price of US$39.13 on July 20.
The total price is US$3.57 billion including Syntel debt, the companies said in a statement on Sunday.
“We’ve just acquired a massive booster to our US business and to our digital business,” Atos chief financial officer Elie Girard said in a call with reporters yesterday.
As a French company reinforcing its presence in the US, “we’re absolutely not worried about trade — our industry is not on the radar as a target of trade wars,” Girard said.
Shares in Atos rose as much as 3.5 percent in Paris trading yesterday.
Syntel’s top three customers — American Express, State Street Bank and FedEx Corp — accounted for 45 percent of its revenue last year and only about 11 percent of sales came from outside North America, its annual report showed.
While the company makes most of its revenue from the US, the bulk of its 23,000-person workforce is in India.
Atos said that it expects the deal to close by year-end, adding to earnings immediately and providing “double-digit accretion as early as 2019” excluding transaction costs and goodwill.
The boards of both companies approved the transaction on July 20 and Syntel shareholders holding 51 percent of the stock, including founders, pledged to vote in favor, a statement said.
“We see potential for synergies on sales as well as margins,” Girard said, adding that the acquisition price is about 14.7 times Syntel’s earnings before interest and taxes over the past 12 months, before taking synergies into account.
While Atos’ market capitalization of 13.2 billion euros (US$15.47 billion) is almost five times that of Syntel, the US company’s shares have been growing faster. Syntel shares have doubled in the past year, while Atos is little changed.
Atos yesterday also reported earnings for the second quarter and confirmed its full-year targets.
Syntel’s net revenue has dropped for the past two years, including a 4.4 percent decline to US$923.8 million last year.
The company has global development centers in India, Scotland, Poland and the Philippines, with 76 percent of its billable workforce located in India, Syntel’s annual report said.
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