KKCG launches Aricoma – biggest Czech ICT holding

The Aricoma Group, the biggest ICT holding in the Czech Republic, was introduced today by representatives of the KKCG investment group owned by entrepreneur Karel Komárek. Inspired by a mountain in the Peruvian Andes, Aricoma's name and logo stand for strength, ambition and power. The members of Aricoma Group include AUTOCONT, Cleverlance, CAD Studio, DataSpring and AEC.

The establishment of the Aricoma holding is another step in the fulfillment of KKCG's plan to build a strong pan-European provider of ICT services. KKCG's overall business strategy aims to diversify risks and to promote both organic and inorganic growth in the gaming, information technology, energy, tourism and real estate sectors. Because ICT has become one of the most important pillars of the group's business in recent years, KKCG has now decided to bring together selected technology firms, which mainly specialize in solutions and services for the corporate sector, under the Aricoma Group. The portfolios of Aricoma companies cover the entire range of ICT services, from IT architecture design, infrastructure and cloud services, and the implementation of enterprise management applications, to the development of comprehensive proprietary software solutions and outsourcing. In addition, cybersecurity issues are the common denominator of all of the group's services. Aricoma has nearly two thousand employees, and it saw revenues last year in excess of 6.75 billion crowns.

"When we entered information technologies in 2009, we knew that it was a high-potential business sector. Since then, our expectations have been more than fulfilled year after year," says Michal Tománek, KKCG's Investment Director responsible for ICT. According to Tománek, ICT currently offers excellent investment opportunities, mainly thanks to the globally growing complexity of ICT solutions and the consequent rise in demand for ICT services. In addition, ICT development is driven by the demise of traditional business models and the emergence of new approaches that rely on online interaction with clients. The growing ICT market and a lack of qualified experts provides an opportunity to offer top-quality services to companies that wish to move away from handling IT internally and seek outsourcing solutions. "In our opinion, the future lies in the ability to find excellent workers both at home and abroad, as well as in knowing how to retain the best of them. This alone will allow us to offer our customers sufficiently large and qualified professional teams," explains Tománek.

"The Aricoma Group is now facing two main tasks. The first consists of consolidating KKCG's activities and making them more visible on the Czech and Slovak IT markets, where we want to be the biggest provider of ICT services for the corporate sector. The Aricoma Group's main role is to be an umbrella brand, presenting the group externally, while promoting cooperation among the group's individual members, which will continue to operate independently under their own brands," comments CEO Milan Sameš, elaborating on Aricoma's vision, adding, "The other challenge the Aricoma Group faces is to become a platform for the Europe-wide expansion of KKCG's operations, because our ambition is to become a leading pan-European provider of ICT services. Our big advantage is the availability of equity that is not restricted by a fixed investment horizon. In other words, we have the time to choose the very best opportunities, to invest into them, and to develop them in a prosperous manner." According to Sameš, another strategic advantage is the global dimension of KKCG's business, as the group is currently active on markets that provide the highest growth potential.

"We believe that if Aricoma becomes a strong international provider of ICT services, it will prevent domestic IT experts and talents from seeking opportunities in other countries, which will, in turn, be conducive to the creation of innovative products and services in the Czech Republic. We want to expand in IT in the same way we have done over the past seven years in the gaming industry, where the SAZKA Group is now the biggest lottery group in Europe," adds Tománek