MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 7 No. 12, 8 September 2008

This issue is sponsored by:

COA Solutions, Annual Consultants' Forum 2008 and Accredit UK

This issue news

1. Infosys snaps up Axon for £407m
2. Alan Leaman takes lead at MCA
3. Lockheed Martin wins £150m census contract
4. Deloitte revenue fuelled by consultancy
5. Atos Origin trains for London Olympics
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

COA Solutions

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1. INFOSYS SNAPS UP AXON FOR £407m

Indian IT services firm Infosys has agreed to acquire UK-based IT consultancy Axon Group. The deal values Axon at £407.1 million - a premium of 33% above its average share price during the six months before the announcement - and is expected to be completed by the end of November.

The acquisition demonstrates the continued hunger of Indian IT services companies for overseas growth and the desire to offer consulting capabilities and engage with clients undertaking large business transformation programmes.

Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan said: "The strategic combination of our groups will accelerate the realisation of our common aspiration, that of becoming the most respected provider of business transformation services in the global marketplace."

Roy Merritt, non-executive chairman of Axon, said: "Against the background of the global economic environment and increasing consolidation in the IT services industry, the combination with Infosys represents a compelling proposition. The offer represents an attractive cash premium and provides certainty of value today for Axon shareholders. We are therefore unanimously recommending the offer to shareholders."

Founded in 1994, Axon has built a successful business working with organisations that use SAP software as their strategic IT platform. The company has consistently increased profit and revenue, reporting post-tax profit of £20.1 million on revenue of £204.5 million in fiscal 2007.

• BAE Systems has made a recommended offer to acquire IT and security consultancy Detica. The deal values Detica at £538 million and is in line with BAE Systems' strategy of establishing security businesses in its home markets.

2. ALAN LEAMAN TAKES LEAD AT MCA

The UK Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has appointed corporate affairs expert Alan Leaman as CEO, following the retirement of former leader Peter Hill.

Leaman has joined the MCA from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) where he worked for seven years as director of corporate affairs. While at the ABI, he established the association in the national media and drove a communications campaign that won additional funding from government for flood defences.

His focus at the MCA follows similar interests. He plans to develop the MCA's voice on key issues through the media and by communicating directly to government and private sector trade associations. He also intends to communicate the value that consultants deliver and strengthen the MCA's position on professionalism and integrity.

Commenting on the prospects for management consultants, Leaman said: "While businesses may already be reacting to tougher times in the UK economy by tightening their belts, consultants continue to provide valuable advice on areas such as cost reduction and restructuring. During a downturn, businesses that execute consultants' advice will ultimately create more value and more jobs."

Before joining the ABI, Leaman was senior associate director at media relations firm Hill and Knowlton. From 1988 to 1993 he was head of office for MP Paddy Ashdown, responsible for media relations, policy advice and speech writing. He was awarded an OBE in 1999 for public and political services.

Sponsor

Annual Consultants' Forum 2008

Open for registrations

We are delighted to announce the date for this event is Wednesday 24 September at One Great George Street, London. The Annual Consultants' Forum aims to provide a meeting place for consultants to understand the latest developments in the profession and to generate thought-provoking discussion to improve their performance and service to clients.

To review the event and pre-register please click here.

3. LOCKHEED MARTIN WINS £150m CENSUS CONTRACT

Lockheed Martin has beaten rival systems integrators to a £150 million contract to support the Office for National Statistics (ONS) through the 2011 census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Lockheed Martin will lead a consortium of UK-based companies - including Logica, Oracle and Steria - which has secured the ONS deal based on its ability to provide secure data capture and processing services. The system that will be designed, installed and supported by the consortium will, for the first time, allow census questionnaires to be completed over the internet.

Lockheed Martin UK CEO Ian Stopps commented: "Together with our industry team, we are committed to delivering a system that enables the Government to efficiently and effectively perform the 2011 census, while ensuring that all information remains secure and confidential."

Lockheed Martin provided the data capture elements of the 2001 UK census and has also supported censuses in the US and Canada.

Sponsor

Accredit UK

Accredit UK opens up new doors for certified company

Accredit UK has proven of immediate help to a recently certified company. KC3.net has found that certification to the Accredit UK Standard has enabled it to prove its excellence and get in front of decision makers, including a major public sector body. It has also seen certification as being a major help when going through tender processes, including its recent approval as a Government Gateway Alliance Partner.

For more information about Accredit UK visit: www.accredituk.com/.

4. DELOITTE REVENUE FUELLED BY CONSULTANCY

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has achieved a sixth year of double-digit revenue growth, with consulting and financial advisory services delivering the greatest gains.

The global consulting services revenue of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu member firms rose 22% on fiscal 2007, to reach $6.3 billion (£3.57 billion) in fiscal 2008. Overall revenue rose 19% to $27.4 billion with every service line and geographic region delivering growth.

Deloitte Global CEO Jim Quigley commented: "Our people's continued focus on excellence and their demonstrated ability to work together across geographies to meet our clients' needs are fundamental to our success. Our strong global culture unites all of our people, bringing consistency to everything we do."

Over the past year, Deloitte added about 15,000 employees - many in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China - bringing total headcount to about 165,000 at the close of the fiscal year.

5. ATOS ORIGIN TRAINS FOR LONDON OLYMPICS

Atos Origin matched the success of the world's leading athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when it broke IT service delivery records set during the 2004 games in Athens.

As the long-term IT partner to the International Olympic Committee, Atos Origin fielded a similar IT team and scale of infrastructure in Beijing as it did in Athens, but delivered over 80% more competition data to media organisations and enabled 50% more stories to be published every day by the Olympic News Service.

The company added eight sports disciplines to its Commentator Information System and supported 1.2 million hits a day on the Beijing Olympic Games intranet - 30% more than in Athens. It also filtered over 12 million IT security events every day to detect and resolve any security threats to the Beijing IT infrastructure.

As Beijing's Olympic medallists prepare for 2012, Atos Origin acknowledged that there should be no slippage in IT performance. CEO Philippe Germond said: "As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games ended, our teams were already focused on the Paralympic Games in Beijing, the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"IT is changing the way that the Olympic Games are viewed and we have a mission-critical role in ensuring that richer content is available immediately to audiences around the world in the way that they want to receive it."

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Written by Sarah Underwood. Copyright 2008 NCC (UK) Ltd.

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