Getronics

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Getronics
IndustryIT Services, IT Consulting
FoundedSeptember 1, 1887
Electrical Factory N.V.
part of Groeneveld, Van der Pol & Co (GVPC)[1]
HeadquartersGustav Mahlerplein 23A, 1082 MS Amsterdam
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ServicesDigital Workplace, Business Applications, Unified Communications, Data Center, Cloud Infrastructure, Smart Buildings, Consulting, Managed Services, IT Support, IT Outsourcing, Cybersecurity, Service Desk
Number of employees
4,000 (2024)
ParentGSH Private Capital
Websitewww.getronics.com

Getronics is a Dutch-headquartered ICT services business, founded in 1887 and today employing approximately 4,000 employees across Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Getronics has over 2000 customers, including Credit Agricole, Intersnack, and Inditex, as well as Ford Motors, which the company has served for over 35 years. Getronics is also founding member of the Global Workspace Alliance, a consortium of leading local IT companies delivering IT services in over 180 countries.

In July 2020, GSH Private Capital acquired the business in a deal worth €200M.[2] Getronics was then led by Kenton Fine as chairman and CEO. Since 2024, Andre Ribbens has taken over the position as CEO of Getronics.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

In 1887, the company was created as N.V. Groeneveld, van der Poll & Co's Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam (GVPC). The enterprise was involved with electrical installations, such as the monitoring and control of public facilities and shipping.[3]

Name changes[edit]

After World War II GVPC set up a technical sales office Groenpol as a separate entity. In 1950, the holding company GVPC changed its name to Groenpol NV, and in 1965 the distribution division became Groenpol Industrial Sales. In 1968, Groenpol NV merged with another listed company, Geveke SA. The new name was Geveke & Groenpol NV. In 1970, SHV brought the holding company.

In 1972, Groenpol Industrial Sales made a partial takeover of the technical trading Merchant & Co, the company started sales and service of computer peripherals. Meanwhile, the company also had offices in Belgium, France and Germany. In the same year the name was changed to Geveke Electronics. In 1985 the company was introduced on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

In 1988, its name changed to Getronics NV. Getronics was traded by the AMX index abbreviation 23dGET. The main focus of the company became computer networking and maintenance.

Acquisition Trail[edit]

In 1999, Getronics acquired Wang Global (who had recently acquired Olsy, the service arm of Olivetti) for 3.7 billion guilders (approximately 1.8 billion Euros). Wang Global, based in the United States, was active in 42 countries, which made Getronics a global player. This was strategically advantageous for working with Getronics' international customers.[4]

PinkRoccade acquisition[edit]

PinkRoccade was founded as Roccade (RCC) in 1950 providing punched card services for the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. In 1993, RCC took over Bouwfonds Informatica and merged with Pink Elephant and becoming PinkRoccade.[5][6][7] In 2003, PinkRoccade had 8700 employees. After two rounds of redundancies the number was reduced to 7,000 (a thousand of which were based in the United Kingdom).[8]

In 2005, before the acquisition by Getronics, the Dutch State had an interest of 25.8% in PinkRoccade.[5] On March 14, Getronics completed the acquisition of PinkRoccade. Getronics paid a total of €355 million in cash.[9][8] With the acquisition, it became the largest IT service company in the Netherlands under the name Getronics PinkRoccade.[citation needed]

On October 13, 2008, the name was shortened from Getronics PinkRoccade to Getronics. On June 29, 2005, a stock exchange reverse stock split of 7 to 1 took place.

In early 2007, Getronics had approximately 24,000 employees in more than 25 countries. Around the beginning of July 2007 several companies started to look into taking over Getronics including KPN, Capgemini[10] and an unnamed American private equity firm.[11] On July 30, KPN made a bid of 766 million euros. The acquisition of Getronics was confirmed on October 15, 2007 by KPN.[12][13] Getronics was no longer listed on Euronext after December 12, 2007.[14]

KPN ownership (2007–2012)[edit]

In June 2008, Getronics announced that its US operations (formerly Wang) to CompuCom for cash and a minority stake in CompuCom. These activities include operations in Canada the United States and in Mexico.[15]

On December 1, 2008 the sale of the business unit Business Application Services (BAS) was completed at Capgemini. The sale included 2,300 employees and customer base of BAS. Capgemini paid 255 million euros. Business Solutions, the last remaining unsold part of Business Application Services (BAS), consisting of 800 employees who were engaged in local government and healthcare sector found refuge with Total Specific Solutions which had previously Everest in the year taken from Getronics.[16]

The part that dealt Microsoft and .NET development came into the hands of Delaware Consultancy.[17]

On March 31, 2009, the parent company announced a shrinkage of staff to 1,400 employees.[18][19]

On June 17, 2011, Getronics CEO announced a further contraction of 2,500 jobs. Partly by offshoring, but also because disappointing results made it necessary that there should occur a reduction of jobs in the Netherlands within 18 months. On August 30, 2011, it was announced that 400 underperforming employees would lose their positions.[20]

Aurelius acquisition (2012-2017)[edit]

In 2012, KPN sold a majority stake of Getronics Europe and APAC to the Aurelius Group, a German publicly listed industrial holding company. KPN sold Getronics LATAM businesses to OpenGate Capital, a global private equity firm.[21]

The Dutch activities of Getronics remained with KPN, first under the name KPN Corporate Market,[22] and from January 1, 2013 under the name 'KPN IT Solutions'.[23] For international business the name Getronics has remained in place.

In June 2015, the remaining share KPN owned in Getronics Europe and APAC was sold to the Aurelius Group.[24] In November, Getronics won a five-year IT services contract from automotive services company RAC Limited.[25]

Under AURELIUS’ wing, between 2012 and 2017, the Getronics Group expanded from both a geographical and a portfolio perspective through several new acquisitions, including NEC's UCC business[26] in the UK and Spain (2013); IT consulting companies, Steria Iberica in Spain and Telvent[27] in Spain and South America (2014); and Colt's European managed cloud business, coinciding with the launch of Getronics’ Managed Cloud Services portfolio (2016). had also acquired Thales in Spain and Argentina, which was rebranded Connectis and became part of the Getronics Group.[28]

2016 – June 2020[edit]

In 2017, Getronics Group (with both Connectis and Getronics brands) was acquired by strategic investor Bottega InvestCo S.à r.l. The majority shareholder of Bottega is the US/Brazilian entrepreneur Nana Baffour, who operates in the IT services market through Grupo Cimcorp in Brazil; prestigious financing partners include White Oak Global Advisors, Permira PDM and H.I.G. WhiteHorse.[29]

In 2018, the Getronics Group announced its expansion to North America after acquiring U.S. based company, Pomeroy. The acquisition of Pomeroy was supported by a US$815 million financing and recapitalization transaction.[30][31][32]

July 2020 – present[edit]

On 21 July 2020, GSH Private Capital, led by Kenton Fine, became the new owner-managers of the Dutch headquartered IT services business, in a deal worth €200M. The business has annual revenues of circa €300M. Its 4000 strong team serves over 2000 customers globally.

At the time of the acquisition, its blue chip clients included RAC, Ford, and Inditex.

Under the new ownership, the company remains focused on delivering IT services and solutions[buzzword] with focus on user experience, including digital workplace, cloud services, applications, smart buildings, IT support and cybersecurity.[citation needed]

Board chairpersons[edit]

  • 1983 – 1999 – Ton Risseeuw
  • 1999 – 2001 – Cees van Luijk RA (from PricewaterhouseCoopers)
  • 2001 – 2003 – Peter van Voorst (since 1986, Peter van Voorst part of Getronics' board of directors)
  • 2003 – 2007 – Klaas Wagenaar (include CFO software company Baan)
  • 2007 – 2011 – Erik van der Meijden (from HP, appointed by KPN)
  • 2011 – September 30, 2013 – Steven Schilfgaarde (former CFO Getronics Erik van der Meijden coming from KPN)[33]
  • 2012-2013 - Andreas Ziegenhein
  • 2013- 2017 Mark Cook[34]
  • 2017 - 2019 Nana Baffour
  • 2020 - 2024 Kenton Fine
  • 2024 - today Andre Ribbens

Kenton Fine[edit]

Since July 2020, Kenton is Chairman & CEO of Getronics.[35] He has been a successful entrepreneur in the services sector with over 30 years’ experience in the global facility management and services industry having founded his first business in the waste management sector in 1989.

Previously group chairman at Servest, Kenton built the Servest Group into a leading FM provider across Africa and the UK and to ultimately become the global services giant

, Atalian Servest.

Global Workspace Alliance[edit]

Global Workspace Alliance is a jointly managed IT services consortium. Founded and led by Getronics, members include along CompuCom, Pomeroy, SPIE, Indra, AGCN, Centric, InfoCare, S&T, Eire Systems, NSC and Topnew Info.[36][25][37] Global Workspace Alliance 2.0 was launched in April 2016 with a further commitment of joint innovation and sharing of IP between partners.[38] Together, the Alliance Partners deliver digital workplace services in more than 180 countries, offering one single point of ownership, billing entity, end to end visibility and accountability for the services it delivers.

PinkRoccade legacy[edit]

PinkRoccade was the first in the Netherlands to use the management method Information Technology Infrastructure Library. In 2001. the company developed the method ASL as a method of managing applications ('model Looijen'). This method is now being further developed under the by the ASL BiSL foundation.[39]

The name PinkRoccade has returned to the company PinkRoccade Local Government ( 's-Hertogenbosch) and PinkRoccade Healthcare (Apeldoorn) which were taken over by Total Specific Solutions (TSS) KPN / Getronics in 2009.[40][41]

References[edit]

  1. ^ More historical information (in Dutch)
  2. ^ "Getronics changes hands again in €200m deal". Channelweb. July 21, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "History of Getronics NV – FundingUniverse".
  4. ^ "Getronics koopt kwijnend Wang voor 37 miljard". May 5, 1999.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Gordon. "Getronics in takeover bid for PinkRoccade". www.ft.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Duin, Patrick A. (2006). Qualitative Futures Research for Innovation. Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-5972-115-9.
  7. ^ "Leaders and followers: E-government, policy innovation and policy transfer in the European Union" (PDF). Nashville, TN. 2003. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ a b Infosmack; Australia. "Getronics buys PinkRoccade". The Register.
  9. ^ "Getronics buys PinkRoccade". The Register.
  10. ^ "Capgemini wants to buy Getronics units".
  11. ^ "KPN bids to buy Getronics". July 30, 2007.
  12. ^ Computable October 15, 2007: "Acquisition of Getronics by KPN is final".
  13. ^ "KPN completes Getronics acquisition". Reuters. October 23, 2007.
  14. ^ "getronics – Google Finance Search".
  15. ^ "CompuCom Systems Completes Acquisition Getronics North American" (Press release).
  16. ^ "Getronics verkoopt laatste BAS-divisie aan TSS".
  17. ^ Delaware takes MS IM leg Getronics UK Limited on Knack.be 18-9-2012, 30-9-2012 visited
  18. ^ "Getronics reduces personeelskosten". Archived from the original on April 3, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Dismissal by phone Macworld 11-6-2009
  20. ^ 400 employees resigned, August 30, 2011, accessed on September 20 2011
  21. ^ "Getronics History". Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  22. ^ "KPN sells Getronics International".
  23. ^ "KPN Corporate Market Krijgt nieuwe naam".
  24. ^ "Aurelius Acquires Remaining Shares in Getronics". Business Wire. June 22, 2015.
  25. ^ a b "Getronics Drives off with Five Year Deal to Provide the RAC with Automation and Cloud-Based IT Services - Business Wire" (Press release). November 19, 2015.
  26. ^ "Aurelis owned getronics family partners with nec to address market opportunities and acquires nec enterprise solutions direct". Aurelius.
  27. ^ "Aurelius acquires IT consulting activities of Telvent Global Services in Spain and South America". Aurelius.
  28. ^ "Our History". Getronics.
  29. ^ "Getronics acquired by strategic investor Bottega InvestCo S.à r.l". Getronics Website. July 17, 2017.
  30. ^ "Getronics Completes Acquisition of Pomeroy creating a billion-dollar-plus leading global services platform". Getronics. July 12, 2018.
  31. ^ "KPN Corporate".
  32. ^ "KPN under pressure at home, sells Getronics International - DutchNews.nl". January 24, 2012.
  33. ^ exit of Schilfgaarde DFT September 3, 2013
  34. ^ "Getronics appoints Mark Cook as Group CEO".
  35. ^ "Our Team". Getronics.
  36. ^ "Getronics - Global Workspace Alliance".
  37. ^ "The Global Workspace Alliance (GWA) selects Topnew Info as Strategic Partner for China & Hong Kong - Business Wire" (Press release). June 2, 2016.
  38. ^ "CompuCom® and Getronics Announce the Global Workspace Alliance 2.0 - Business Wire" (Press release). April 26, 2016.
  39. ^ The Hesseweg (Getronics) developed management method ASL BISL-foundation, visited 27-10-2013
  40. ^ "Getronics Pinkroccade Healthcare B.V.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Bloomberg News.
  41. ^ "PinkRoccade Local Government". LinkedIn.
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