The move comes just four months after Paris, France-based Capgemini announced the $1.3bn takeover of Rosemont, Illinois-based Kanbay International, and is a further sign that the company is back on the front foot after a successful period of restructuring.
Capgemini has spent the last five years paring back its operations in North America, after its $11bn acquisition of Ernst & Young Consulting in 2001 left it with major over-capacity issues in the subsequent market downturn.
Software Architects specializes in custom application development and systems integration services for Fortune 500 and mid-market clients including Certegy, Carlson Companies and Shell Energy, and it has alliances with Microsoft, BEA, and IBM.
The company, which is privately owned, has 500 employees across 10 offices in the US, and made revenue of $68m in full-year 2006. It will be rolled into Capgemini’s mid-market services division Sogeti, whose headcount in the US will rise to 2,000 people across 24 cities after the deal.
Capgemini, like its larger IT services rival EDS Corp, has undergone an impressive recovery in recent years, which has seen its share price increase by a third since last August. It has made several attempts to establish itself as a major player on the other side of the Atlantic, but has never managed to build a consistently profitable US operation.
But there were positive signs for Capgemini’s North American arm last year, which accounted for 17.4% of the company’s total revenue in the first half. A recovery in its outsourcing business in the region helped it to break into the black at an operating level in the first six months of 2006, and it followed this up in the third quarter with 5.4% top-line growth.
The company will report results for full-year 2006 on February 15.
