Release no. 13/2011
 

Columbus has today entered into an agreement about sale of the Group's subsidiaries in France and Spain to Prodware SA, and enters into a strategic cooperation agreement

As announced in release no. 12 of 9 November 2011 the Group Management has decided to divest the Group's subsidiaries in France and Spain. The reason for this is primarily the economic recession in Southern Europe and the circumstance that a restructuring of the concerned companies will require a long time horizon. Today the companies have been sold to Prodware SA, which already has substantial activities in France and Spain. 

In relation to this trade Prodware and Columbus have agreed to enter into a strategic partnership.

Strategic partnership with Prodware

The intention with a partnership between Prodware and Columbus is to create a strong global partnership on implementation of business critical solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics, which will be advantageous for both companies and their customers.

The partnership will include:

Global implementation alliance

• Prodware will be the preferred implementation partner for Columbus in France and Spain.
• Columbus will be the preferred implementation partner for Prodware in Russia & CIS, USA, India, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Baltics and Middle East.

Global software alliance

• Prodware will become an important reseller of Columbus solutions (To-Increase software).
• Prodware will invest in building skills and implementation competencies aligned to Columbus' (To-Increase) software solutions.

Prodware acquires Columbus subsidiaries in Spain and France

• Columbus is selling all business activities including customer's contracts and contracts with employees in Spain and France to Prodware.

The partners expect the trade to be finalized on 24 November 2011.

Ib Kunøe                                 Thomas Honoré

Chairman                                CEO

Columbus IT Partner A/S                   Columbus IT Partner A/S

For further information, please contact:

CEO Thomas Honoré, T: +45 70 20 50 00.

Translation: In the event of any inconsistency between this document and the Danish language version, the Danish language version shall be the governing version.

About Columbus

With solid industry know-how, Columbus is a preferred business partner for ambitious companies within the food, retail and manufacturing sectors. Columbus' key deliverables include flexible and future-safe ERP, CRM, BI and related business applications that deliver competitive advantage. We know how to adapt and implement our proven Microsoft-based solution sets to maximize efficiency and overall business performance — for immediate impact. Exceeding 20 years of experience and 6.000 successful business cases, Columbus currently employs over 1.000 dedicated staff working out of 41 offices in 21 countries. Read more at www.columbusglobal.com.

About Prodware

Founded in 1989, Prodware creates, integrates and hosts IT solutions for businesses. Prodware acts in a sector where success requires a combination of strong IT expertise and industry know-how. Prodware serves more than 17.500 active clients, and is the key actor and partner for the installation and management of global IT solutions and applications. Present in 10 countries and through strong strategic alliances Prodware supports companies in their international expansion. Read more at www.prodware.fr.