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Paris, 2 october 2007

Press Release

GFI Informatique announces the acquisition of BTD group

With this acquisition, GFI Informatique strengthens its sectoral positioning
and cross-functional expertise in France, and confirms its high value-added deployment strategy

The acquisition of the BTD group will add over 700 professional staff and contribute profitable revenues of €60 million to the GFI Informatique group.

The deal enables GFI Informatique to strengthen its national presence in the banking and telecommunications sectors, as well as enhancing its cross-functional expertise in the Business Intelligence and HRIS fields.

Statement by Jacques Tordjman, Chairman and CEO:

“The acquisition of the BTD group fits perfectly with our 2010 strategic plan and is a further demonstration of our wish to step up the pace of acquisitions. BTD’s high quality meets fully the criteria we set in our acquisitions policy: a company with high value-added that is profitable and present in the group’s strategic growth area, France. Alongside the general management team, the Board is delighted to welcome the BTD group and to jointly pursue our industrial project.”

 

The BTD group: high value-added expertise

• Through its IT Performance Management division comprising 80 professionals, the BTD group will strengthen significantly GFI Informatique’s Business Intelligence skills centre, which covers the following fields: BPM, EAI, CRM and Capacity Planning.
• With over 100 consultants working in ERP, the BTD group has complete mastery of the largest ERP applications on the market, particularly in the HRIS field (PeopleSoft, HR Access). This will strengthen GFI Informatique’s HRIS skills centre and its ERP division, which now has over 500 consultants.
• The cutting-edge know-how in network architecture and security of the BTD group will enhance the expertise of GFI Infrastructures and Production, which already has a staff of over 1,000.
• By integrating the BTD group’s activities in banking, finance and insurance, GFI Informatique becomes a major player in this field in the greater Paris region, with a staff of over 750. The BTD group also has a division of experienced consultants with expertise in the financial markets (Asset Management).

 

Financial and legal terms of the acquisition

GFI has acquired the entire share capital of the BTD group in a cash deal, financed in part by a €30 million medium-term loan and the remainder from GFI Informatique’s own resources.

 

Key figures for the BTD group

Consolidated revenues for the group’s 2006 financial year totalled €54 million, and it made an operating margin on ordinary activities of around 8% and a net margin of 4.2%. As at 31 December 2006, the BTD group’s net debt was €4.6 million.

 

About the BTD group

BTD is an IT services group founded in 1981. With more than 25 years experience in consulting and engineering, the BTD group has developed vertical specialities in banking, telecommunications and industry and horizontal expertise in ERP, Business Intelligence and infrastructures. The BTD group is based mainly in the greater Paris region and has an office in Rennes.

 

About GFI Informatique

GFI Informatique is a major player in the IT services sector, providing four strategic offerings: consulting, systems integration, infrastructures and production, and solutions. The group covers all stages of the information system life cycle and caters mainly for large corporates, public bodies and local authorities. GFI Informatique has 16 skills centres and 5 service centres. In 2006, the group recorded revenues of €633.1 million and employed a workforce of more than 8,000. GFI Informatique has over 40 branches in France and 9 international agencies in Southern and Northern Europe, Morocco and Canada.

 

For further information please contact

Press relations: Martine Canaque - Email: mcanaque@gfi.fr - Tel. +33 (0)1 53 93 43 80
Financial Communications: Bertrand Maes – Email: bmaes@gfi.fr - Tel. +33 (0)1 53 93 44 25