Royal Imtech has announced its intention to put its ICT division up for sale as part of its ongoing debt reduction program.
The announcement by the European technical services provider of the intended divesture of the division follows serious losses for the group.
On March 18th Gerard van de Aast, CEO described 2013 “as a very turbulent year” in the history of Imtech following serious problems for the group in Poland and Germany which led to a net loss for the year of €697 million. A major investigation into irregularities in Poland and Germany, coupled with an extended auditing and reviewing process of the company has had a major impact on the organization, especially the German business.
Annoucing the ICT sale, Imtech said it was continuing to focus on achieving a long term sustainable capital structure and was committed to reduce indebtedness by at least €400 million euro, commenting:
“The ICT division will be divested through an auction process in order to optimize the transaction value in the best interest of all stakeholders. “
Imtech said it will “continue to review all options” in its efforts to reduce debt.
The ICT division, which employs 2,380 staff, delivered revenues of €740 million in 2013 and provides services to approximately 7,000 customers in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, the UK and the Philippines. However, Imtech said that the sale of the ICT division would not have an impact on the value proposition for its customers, adding:
“ Automation expertise and know-how in the field of amongst others building automation, infrastructure automation, telecommunication, industrial automation and technical automation are an integral part of the offered value proposition of the other Imtech divisions.”
Headquartered in the Netherlands with approximately 26,000 employees, in the UK Imtech works with a number of the UK water companies, including Thames, Anglian, Northumbrian, Severn Trent and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water.
In its annual results for 2013 published last month, Imtech described the UK engineering services market as “characterised by tough market conditions resulting in very tight margins in the marketplace.” UK headcount fell to 3,396 full-time employees in the fourth quarter, a reduction of 108 FTEs, the result of streamlining the business, particularly for UK engineering services business.
in December 2013 Imtech UK completed the replacement of the site SCADA at Thames Water Lightwater Sewage Treatment Works, the first in a programme of site SCADA replacements for the utility.
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