Re-born IT services company Amdahl Corp could be set for a windfall when its Fujitsu sibling ICL Plc goes public next year, according to a high-level Amdahl executive. Charlie Abrahams, managing director of Amdahl (UK) Ltd, said that Fujitsu may use the cash raised from ICL’s flotation, scheduled for some time after the first quarter of next year, to help grow its other IT services businesses.
That means Sunnyvale, California-based Amdahl’s two customer facing business units, Amdahl Global Solutions and IT consultancy DMR, could also benefit from the sale which estimates suggest could raise around 2bn pounds ($3.2bn), although ICL may struggle to realize this if its margins remain thin. Any investment from Fujitsu via ICL would be welcome as Amdahl is currently seeking to expand its operations, possibly via the acquisition of a company or companies offering web-based infrastructure services in continental Europe.
Abrahams dismissed speculation that Fujitsu was also planning to float shares in Amdahl. Indeed, with surprising frankness, he conceded that Amdahl’s abiding image as a plodding mainframe builder will have to be dispelled before this could be done successfully. That process will take another three years, he said. However, DMR Consulting suffers no such image problems, so a listing of shares in that business in the near term cannot be discounted.
