The Spanish subsidiaries of Fujitsu Ltd and ICL Plc will finally merge from October 1 to become the fourth force in the information technology market in Spain, behind IBM Espana, Hewlett-Packard Espanola and Informatica El Corte Ingles. The new company, to be known as Fujitsu-ICL Espana SA, claims it will turn over $340m in fiscal 1996, rising to $355.2m in 1997 and $372.8m in 1998. Spokesmen for the multinationals told El Pais the fusion will improve organizational efficiency and tap the synergies of both firms so that they can respond to the demands of the market with a keener competitive edge. The current president and managing director of Fujitsu Espana, Adrian Piera and Shigeji Tomio, will retain their positions at the helm of the new company, which will be held 80% by Fujitsu Ltd and 20% by ICL Plc. Fujitsu-ICL Espana SA will now receive a capital injection of $16m, all of which will be put up by ICL. The two companies say that the workforce of 1,400 will not be affected by the merger, although the management of Fujitsu Espana began conversations some time ago with unions to negotiate a reduction of 130 sales staff. Fujitsu Espana dates back to 1974 and was the Japanese company’s first foray into Europe. It has a production plant employing 255 people in Malaga and 33 sales and maintenance offices throughout Spain, while ICL has been present in Spain offering global computing services and hardware products since 1976. To date, the respective Spanish subsidiaries of the two firms had been swimming against the European tide by maintaining independent strategies and structures.
