Altran entered into an agreement to acquire Aricent through its subsidiary Altran US. Aricent is a global digital leader in design and engineering services and will be acquired from a group of investors led by KKR, for a total enterprise value of €1.7 billion or $2.0 billion in an all-cash transaction. Based on last twelve months (LTM) June 2017 data, this corresponds to 10.6x EBITDA pre-synergies, and 8.0x post run-rate-synergies (14.4x EBIT pre-synergies and 9.9x EBIT post-synergies). The transaction has been unanimously approved by Altran’s Board of Directors and is expected to close in Q1 2018, subject to receipt of antitrust approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Following the transaction, the combined entity will become the undisputed global leader in ER&D services, a market expected to be worth €220 billion by 2020.
Aricent primarily serves clients of the communications and technology, semiconductor and software industries. Headquartered in Santa Clara (California), Aricent brings design and engineering capabilities to help its clients get to market faster, transform legacy products to digital, and create new revenue opportunities. Among the company’s assets is the iconic brand Frog, which has with world-class design and client experience capabilities, outstanding knowledge and intellectual property for the telecom, software, semiconductors industries. Aricent also has solid experience in shaping large engineering outsourcing deals and key capabilities in key emerging technologies including Artifical Intelligence, Cognitive Systems, Internet of Things and software frameworks..