Thanks to this transaction, GFI Solutions anticipates accelerated growth over the next three years.
Paris, April 3, 2008 – The Canadian subsidiary of GFI Informatique Group has announced the acquisition of Groupe Accovia, which is internationally renowned for its expertise in the area of travel technology. The acquisition will inject more than 130 collaborators and 11 M€ into the Canadian subsidiary of GFI Group.
This acquisition will serve to strengthen the position of GFI Solutions on the Canadian information technology market, bringing on board prestigious new clients such as Pierre et Vacances, Vacances Transat, Liberty Travel, and Disneyland. The move creates a combination of extensive experience in information technology and trade expertise in the travel industry.
According to Gilles Létourneau, President of GFI Solutions: “This consolidation will allow GFI Canada to grow beyond 400 workers and to target 60 M€ in three years.”
Accovia is the global leader in travel packaging technology. Its mission is to provide software solutions to facilitate efficient management of the supply, design, and distribution of travel packages.
Since 1985, Accovia has applied its expertise in all aspects of travel technology in order to develop, install, and integrate reservation and management systems for the pleasure travel industry. Accovia is recognized as the leading supplier of software systems and automated vacation package assembly solutions.
According to Jacques Tordjman, President and Chief Executive Officer of GFI Informatique:
“The combining of the activities of GFI and Accovia is excellent news for our clients and for the Group. This a perfect fit with GFI Group’s international strategy and the launch of its GFI World Solutions entity. The Canadian group has more than tripled its activities since 2004, and this acquisition will make it possible to sustain the momentum of growth that it has created, and will enhance our offer of services around the world.”
About GFI Solutions Inc.
Based in Montreal, GFI Solutions Inc. is one of Québec’s leading IT consulting firms. Their services include business management consulting, application development, system integration, outsourcing, technical writing and IT staffing. GFI has also developed three Centers of Excellence in transactional systems and back-office applications for the banking industry, and ERP solutions.
With close to 400 employees, GFI Solutions is one of the largest IT consulting firms in Québec. It is also a member of the GFI Informatique group, an international organization with over 8,000 collaborators worldwide and revenues of close to CAN$ 1 billion. For more information concerning GFI Solutions, please visit www.gfisolutions.com.
About Accovia
Accovia’s travel technology experts help to improve the performance of travel organizations through innovative solutions aimed at enhancing access to travel components, optimizing the merchandising of travel products, and expanding market reach. Founded in Montreal in 1985, Accovia serves clients from 8 countries around the world, representing a total of 25 million travellers per year. www.accovia.com
About GFI Informatique
GFI Informatique is a major player in the IT services sector, providing four strategic offerings: consulting, systems integration, infrastructures and production and solutions. The group caters mainly for large corporates, public bodies and local authorities. As part of its industrialisation policy, the group has 11 skills centres, two regional service centres, one national service centre and three offshore centres. GFI Informatique recorded revenue of €688.5m in 2007 and employed 9,500 people at the end of 2007. The group has over 40 branches in France and nine international agencies in Southern and Northern Europe, Morocco and Canada.
Contacts:
Accovia
Yanic Roy
Marketing Director
514 931-4433, extension 3109
[email protected]
GFI Solutions
Anne Hodgkinson
Communication and Marketing Director
514 288-7161, extension 413
[email protected]
GFI Informatique
Media Relations: Martine Canaque
+33 (0)1 53 93 43 80
[email protected]
Financial Communications: Bertrand Maes
+33 (0)1 53 93 44 25
[email protected]