Capgemini is in advanced talks to buy Prosodie from Apax Partners and its senior managers.

The exclusive negotiations should lead to a deal that will add to earnings for the year. It is based on a value of €382m, and will be paid for from Capgemini's cash reserves.

Prosodie has 861 staff, turnover in 2010 of €172m and operating margin of 15.9 per cent. It claims number one spot in France for running multi-channel client relationships, and pre-payment systems.

It runs four data centres in France and two in Spain. Customers include telcos, government departments, utilities, banks and retailers.

Capgemini hopes to extend Prosodie's markets internationally as well as strengthening Cap's pay-as-you-go business services.

Paul Hermelin, vice-char and CEO at Capgemini, said Prosodie would be the perfect fit for his firm's growth strategy.

Prosodie, run by chairman and CEO Georges Croix, focuses on B2B business in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy.

The deal covers two recent Prosodie acquisitions - it bought Internet-Fr and Level IP, based in Milan. Both companies are internet application hosts.

Capgemini has recently bought a controlling stake in Braxis, a Brazilian reseller. ®