Getronics, the Dutch computer services firm. has bought PinkRoccade, also Dutch, for €355m. Post-acquisition, Getronics is the biggest computer services business in its home country and it also becomes a more significant player in the UK, where it doubles in size. The enlarged group claims pro forma annual revenues of €3bn and has 29,000 staff in 30-ish countries.

PinkRoccade is much the smaller of the two with 7,000 workers and revenues of €739m in 2003. It has 1,000 employees in the UK and customers here include Centrica, T-Mobile, Thomas Cook, Southern Water, Superdrug, Iceland, Booker and Woolworths.

The agreed takeover was announced in November last year, but Ordina, yet another Dutch computer services firm, threw a spanner in the works in December by announcing (http://www.ordina.nl/news/p_ni.asp?NieuwsId=190) its intention to bid €370m for PinkRoccade. Ordina backed out the following month, blaming (http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=7DE14430-619E-446B-A496-E273386ACA4E) its target for refusing to co-operate with its request for information.

Getronics is to issue €250m in new shares to help fund the purchase. ®

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