Building on a series of moves it has made over the last two years to expand its presence in the field of management consulting, Electronic Data Systems Corp says it has acquired French and Brazilian expertise in that sector. The purchases are the first two of six acquisitions planned this year for the Dallas-based company’s worldwide Management Consulting Services group, said Bob Aines, a principle with the unit for practice development in Paris. In Paris, EDS Management Consulting acquired Eurosept SA, which is particularly well-known for insurance management consulting, and in Sao Paulo, F C Consultoria Ltda, which has particular expertise in the electronics and agricultural sectors. The two companies will report directly to Gleason. Eurosept, which reported 1993 revenues of some $24m and employs 150 professionals in Belgium, France and the UK – under the Eurostrategy name, will continue to operate under its own name. It counts over 350 clients for its insurance expertise and for business functions, such as procurement and logistics. EDS’s management consulting activity in France before the buy comprised a staff of 29 people, Aines said. F C Consultoria, which employs 16 consultants, specialises in business assessment, change management, purchasing and manufacturing systems consulting. The acquisitions, whose values were not disclosed, follow the acquisition last year of Atlanta-based BEI Bank Earnings International Golumbe, 100-person banking management consultancy. In Europe, EDS had already acquired some management consulting activity via its purchase of SD-Scicon Plc. EDS began offering management consulting as a separate service in 1989 in the US, in the niche markets of communications and energy, and within parent General Motors Corp, Aines said. From 1991 to 1992, we started checking what people were doing in the field in Europe and in October 1992, made the strategic decision to pursue management consulting aggressively as a new service.
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