KKCG investment group buys into AutoCont

The transaction is this year's most important acquisition in the Czech information technology sector. An agreement between the two partners was signed yesterday.

Under the deal, KKCG becomes a shareholder of AutoCont Holding owning a 70% stake. The remaining 30% will remain to be held by AutoCont's current management. Following 27 years of prosperous performance on the market, AutoCont is now entering a new era as a member of one of the largest investment companies in the Czech Republic. The transaction is subject to merger clearance by the anti-monopoly authorities in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Until clearance has been obtained, AutoCont will act as an independent business entity.

"Our long-term vision is to build a strong business pillar that will focus on information technologies. Our portfolio includes attractive domestic and foreign IT companies, and we have a partnership with the technology giant Foxconn. Buying into AutoCont is another step on the road to fulfilling this vision. On the one hand, the deal will provide AutoCont with new interesting business opportunities, and on the other, it will help the KKCG Group achieve an important advance in the IT sector," explained Michal Tománek, KKCG's Investment Director responsible for new technologies.

AutoCont is the number one on the market for IT services for medium and large clients. The company supplies corporate infrastructure and corporate information systems, develops software, and offers IT outsourcing and cloud services in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"Throughout its existence, AutoCont has been able to respond to market developments and adapt not only its services, but also its overall business functioning to customers' needs," said Martin Grigar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AutoCont Holding. "During our last debate about the firm's strategic development, we agreed that the time has come to take AutoCont's business to the next level. The result is today's announcement of a partnership with an investor who we expect will provide support for the development of AutoCont and its growth in high-potential segments in the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as elsewhere in the world," he added.

KKCG's IT strategy is based on the fact that more and more companies are changing the way in which they use IT services. The no less than revolutionary changes in the IT sector are due to the growing popularity of cloud services as well as the increasing need to deal with IT security risks and the more and more pressing necessity to transform traditional industries into digital form. AutoCont's goal is to become a leader in providing IT services of new generation because this strategy is the only way of meeting customers' needs in a comprehensive manner. In acquiring a majority stake in AutoCont, KKCG has obtained valuable know-how represented by the expertise about 1,000 specialists employed by the company. On the market, AutoCont has a reputation of employing highly competent and loyal professionals. "The fact that AutoCont has a unique corporate DNA was a very important consideration in the making of our decision to invest into the firm," mentioned Tománek.