Ayesa acquires Ibermática, creating a spanish leader in digital services

Ayesa, a global provider of technology and engineering services, has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Ibermática from ProA Capital and other minority shareholders, including ONCE and Kutxabank. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months, following approval by the competent authorities.

Founded in 1973, Ibermática is a leading company in Spain’s technology sector, focused on the digitalisation of corporates and public administrations. It offers a wide range of digital services in the areas of development and maintenance of software and infrastructure applications focused on business processes, as well as the implementation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, cybersecurity, and cloud migration, among others. At the end of 2021, it employed 4,750 professionals and registered a turnover of 276 million euros.

The aim of this transaction is to form a leading group in digital services with the capacity to support large customers in their digital transformation projects. The combined turnover of the two companies reaches €600 million, placing them in the top five players in the Spanish IT market. Following the majority investment of A&M Capital Europe in Ayesa, the group has launched a strategic plan to drive growth organically and via acquisitions, and Ibermática would be the third acquisition in 2022.

José Luis Manzanares Abásolo, CEO of Ayesa, said “the geographical location and service offering of the two companies are highly complementary. Our major clients will be able to entrust us with their important digital transformation projects, as we will naturally extend our technological capabilities and services. Combining our management teams positions us as a leading group in terms of talent and leadership within the technology sector in Spain and abroad”. 

Juan Ignacio Sanz, CEO of Ibermática, added that “Ibermática will make a qualitative leap forward by joining a solid and expanding business project, with important commercial synergies and a very promising professional future. We will concentrate a good part of the best technological talent, functional experience across different sectors and innovation potential”.

For this transaction, Ayesa was supported by Arcano as a financial adviser, Houlihan Lokey as a debt adviser, and Pérez-Llorca as a legal adviser. The shareholders of Ibermática were supported by EY for the preparation of vendor DD reports, by Deloitte as financial adviser and Linklaters as legal adviser.

Advanced technology capabilities 

The transaction will create a group with advanced technological capabilities and broad sector penetration, as well as presence across Spain. The two companies create a highly complementary business profile based on these characteristics. 

In terms of its offering, the group will reinforce services in artificial intelligence, data analytics, process automation and robotics, as well as cloud-native application development. It will also occupy a privileged position in terms of the number of SAP-certified consultants and to undertake large-scale projects to migrate data centres to multi-cloud environments. In addition, the combination will position the new organisation as a benchmark provider of technology services for energy and utilities companies and public administrations in Spain.

Internationally, it will have a commercial and operational network in 22 countries. Existing synergies are expected to boost the business significantly, providing a highly competitive offer to tackle end-to-end technology projects, with a focus on the combination of technologies, experience and functional knowledge.

Ibermática will keep its headquarters in Euskadi 

The integration of Ibermática into the group will consolidate its presence in the regions where it operates, maintaining its current headquarters in Euskadi. In terms of employment, they will form one of the largest technology platforms in Spain, with more than 11,000 professionals specialised in more than 70 disciplines. 

At the same time, Ayesa will continue with its investment strategy. This add-on acquisition would be the third to be carried out this year, following A&M Capital Europe’s majority investment in Ayesa. In this context, the group will study new transactions to complement its technological and engineering services, both inside and outside Spain.