Prokom goes international
By Daniel Tencer
Even as leading domestic systems integrator Prokom Software officially announced its imminent purchase of Czech IT firm PVT last week, the company had already begun setting its sights on further acquisitions in the software sector.
"We are looking at the possibility of further purchases of IT companies," said Beata Stelmach, a member of Prokom's supervisory board.
While Stelmach would neither confirm nor deny recent rumors in the media that Prokom was considering buying an as-yet-unidentified Austrian IT firm, she did indicate that further acquisitions could stray from the firm's own specialization in applied systems integration.
"What the company is looking for is value," Stelmach said. "If we purchase a company, it has to have some intrinsic value: maybe it has market share, or notable clients, or potential for synergies with Prokom - not necessarily a systems integrator."
PVT, however, is a systems integrator and developer. Last week a consortium of Prokom and a host of financial investors signed an agreement with the Czech Consolidation Agency (CKA) to purchase 96.5% of PVT shares after the company's supervisory board recommended the Prokom-led consortium's bid. The group is paying CZK 1.55 billion (E49.5 million) for PVT.
Among the other investors in the consortium are Czech banking group J&T and Netherlands-based Middle Europe Investment. According to Stelmach, Prokom will take control of PVT's IT operations, while the remaining investors will manage the company's various remaining assets. This will effectively give Prokom control of 25% of PVT's shares.
The sale of PVT is being negotiated by the CKA, a government organization created during the Czech Republic's banking sector meltdown in the late 1990s as an instrument to help financially troubled companies restructure. Poor financial results in recent years forced PVT to turn to the CKA for help in restructuring the company.
Besides the company's expansion plans, Prokom has recently seen its financial fortunes lifted by offset contracts from the government's purchase of F-16 fighter jets from U.S. defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Among the contracts that Prokom landed are the development of C2s, or command and control systems that are similar to 911 systems in the U.S., which link emergency services such as police, ambulance and the fire department into a single integrated, real-time information database.
Another project is Tetra, whose aim is to develop an integrated system for the collection of information for government agencies such as the customs bureau. Tetra will allow authorities to track down fugitives, among other things.
Ryszard Krauze, president of Prokom, told reporters at a press conference last week that the company's lucrative offset contracts would represent additional costs for the company in the short term.
"This year we are going to have to take into account financial burdens associated with preparation for the offset projects, while income from them will appear only next year," he said.
