Electronic Data Systems Corp has been on quite a spending spree in Spain over the last two years. The General Motors Corp subsidiary has followed up its purchase of the computing units of Bancaja (Sateica) and Banesto (Leinsa) in 1994 and 1995 respectively with the acquisition of an 80% stake in leading Catalan bank La Caixa’s computing subsidiary Tecnocaixa, while it has also bought the telecommunications company IGR, a subsidiary of savings bank Caja de Madrid. It spent $49.6m on the latter two transactions, which have paved the way for signature of a four-year agreement with La Caixa worth $256m, the most important contract of its kind signed to date in the Spanish financial sector. Under the terms of this agreement, the US firm will offer full facilities management services to 21 subsidiaries of La Caixa and will take over management of the bank’s communications network, becoming responsible for the communications of 2,500 branches, 4,000 automatic teller machines and over 40,000 points of sale. As a result of the acquisition of IGR, it will also assume management of Caja de Madrid’s communications network. Managing director of EDS Espana James Duffey said the company’s philosophy was not to buy just in order to expand, but with the aim of establishing long-term technological relationships with clients. We are on the threshold of a new era in banking, in which technological assoc-iations will acquire great importance. This trend will spread to medium-size financial institutions, which will be obliged to offer the same services as the large ones, Duffey declared. He claimed EDS is the undisputed computing services leader in the financial sector, which, following the recent purchases, will now provide it with 60% of its total turnover this year. Duffey confirmed that the company is also committed to chasing business in other sectors, such as transport, telecommunications and industry, where the need for facilities management services is growing, he maintained. Hence, backed up by more than 1,500 staff, EDS Espana is hoping to turn over a total of $160m in 1996 (1995 yielded $105.8m), gain a 15% share of the facilities management market in Spain and become one of the top 10 computing firms in the peninsula.
