Getronics NV, has completed its expected purchase of Olivetti Ricerca, the software research arm of Italian electronics company Olivetti SpA. Olivetti said the price paid by the Dutch IT services company was broadly equivalent to the outstanding 81.1% of the net asset value of the subsidiary. Getronics hopes the purchase of Olivetti Ricerca will help increase its software solutions capabilities, aiding sales in Italy and throughout Europe. Olivetti Ricerca currently has 500 staff at three centers in Southern Italy. Getronics, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, already owned a 19.9% share in Olivetti Ricerca courtesy of its June 1999 takeover of network and desktop outsourcing specialist Wang Global, which had itself inherited the stake as a result buying Olivetti’s Olsy IT services arm in 1998.
