The acquisition of Altimate, one of the key Romanian technology integrator companies of UTI Group, by former S&T (now Kontron), strengthens Kontron’s very strong position in the public sector in Romania and makes it a key player in future large EU-funded projects in the central and local administrations.
Hannes Niederhauser, CEO of Kontron AG, stated “This acquisition marks an incredible milestone for us – it’s the fourth in a row as we continue to expand and strengthen our presence in key markets.”, underlying that “Each acquisition brings us closer to realizing our vision of becoming a leader in industrial IoT solutions.”.
With a combined revenue expected to exceed 100 million euros in 2023 in Romania, Kontron will lead a small group of 4-5 companies that will soon manage domestic public projects worth over 500 M euros.
Despite the sanctions recently received (and contested) by Kontron from the Competition Council, and the discussions generated, in the IT market, by the winning of dozens of public contracts by Altimate (as an essential component of the UTI group), the company resulting from the merger of the two players in Romania will create a long-awaited provider that has both the skills and the financial strength to carry out large-scale technology integration projects for the digital infrastructure so needed in Romania and largely financed by EU funds.
Overall, at a regional (Eastern European) level, this move should be understood in a broader context: consolidation, global IT players focusing more on nearshore delivery centers than on the small local markets, the need for strong IT providers to design and implement large domestic digitalization projects in public organizations, higher payroll costs, and the need for high quality and strict deadlines.
In this region, Kontron has previously sold the former S&T subsidiaries in all countries, except Austria, Romania, and Hungary, markets where Kontron targets leading positions in both traditional IT systems integration and innovative IoT solutions.
