Bechtle expands further in Europe with latest acquisition in French IT market
Apixit becomes Becthle’s 110th acquisition in its 40-year history
Becthle has made an offer to purchase French IT firm Apixit, expanding its IT services portfolio into a sixth European country after Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
The acquisition will mark the German reseller's 110th since being founded in 1983.
As is standard practice in France, Apixit's workers' council will be consulted, and the approval of the responsible French authorities sought before the purchase agreement is legally concluded.
The Bechtle purchase would see the current group of financial investors withdrawing from the company, but there would be no changes to Apixit's executive management.
Apixit employs some 340 staff and has achieved revenues of €85m (£72.56m) in the 2020/21 fiscal year.
The IT service provider was established in 2018 after the fusion of systems integrators DCI and RETIS, both of which had been a mainstay in the French market for three decades.
Apixit's focus is firmly on cybersecurity including a security operations centre (SOC) for all security-related IT services at organisations or companies - an area that accounts for 45 per cent of its revenues.
Moreover, the company offers its more than 1,000 SME and large enterprise customers IT infrastructure solutions, digital workplace concepts, network solutions and managed services as well as consultancy, auditing and deployment.
Apixit has ten regional sites in Lille, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Les Ulis (headquarters), Rennes, Quimper, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux Toulouse and Maisons-Laffitte.
The acquisition comes just months after Becthle completed the purchase of British reseller Tangible Benefit and ACS Systems.
Strengthening French market position
Bechtle has been active on the French market since 2000.
It claimed the deal would serve to consolidate Bechtle's position as one of the five largest IT companies in France, the third largest IT market in Europe after the UK and Germany.
The Bechtle Group companies in France could gain access to Apixit's experience and capabilities in managed services and project management, including its network operations centre (NOC) and SOC, while Apixit would benefit from Bechtle's end user base and expertise in multi-cloud scenarios.
With the addition of Apixit, Bechtle's headcount in France grows to almost 1,200 people.
"With Apixit, we are taking another big step towards European market leadership," explained Konstantin Ebert, executive VP for France, Benelux and the UK at Bechtle.
"The IT company is run by an excellent leadership team and will augment our already significant foothold in the French market.
"Apixit and Bechtle are much more than just matching pieces in the french puzzle, we also expect new synergies that will benefit all Bechtle Group companies."
Fabrice Tusseau, chairman at Apixit added: "With Bechtle, we are in a position to offer our customers and employees outstanding perspectives for the future in France and in Europe.
"Our organisations complement each other very well, and we are on the same wavelength in terms of both our cultures and our ambitious goals."