Tomáš Budník’s J&T Thein Investment Fund has completed its largest acquisition to date. He bought the company C System CZ, which was previously owned by the co-founders Jan Nečas and Pavel Hajn, into his emerging IT group. Budník himself confirmed the information about the transaction in an interview with E15, he did not comment on the sale price. Sources for the E15 daily, however, speak of an amount in the hundreds of millions of crowns.
As part of the transaction, the fund also acquired the companies Český servis and C System Net, which belonged to the same owners. In total, these are three companies that generated revenues worth 1.8 billion crowns last year.
The package of acquired companies provides supplies and services of IT infrastructure, specifically offers, for example, data centers, network elements, or physical servers, ie the same as companies that are already in the fund. Unlike them, however, it focuses on other customers. “Existing companies have focused more on larger clients, while C System also has customers between medium and small companies,” explains Budník.
“Through the acquisition, we are gaining a strong network of regional branches, which mainly serve corporate customers and regional public administration,” Budník added, adding that for the acquisition fund it means that its consolidated revenues will reach over CZK 2.5 billion.
The founders of the company Nečas and Hajn will continue to work in the C System, the first of the named also retained part of the company, namely the division of medical IT systems. “After a process lasting more than a year, I am glad to hand over the group in a very good condition to the Thein fund, under which the long-term building of the group will continue,” says Nečas about the transaction.
The J&T Thein Fund is not the only one to buy IT companies in the Czech Republic. Domestic IT companies are also integrated into their group by, for example, the Karel Komárek Aricom group. And market consolidation will continue, says Štěpán Húsek, head of technology consulting at Deloitte.
“There are many reasons for acquisitions. Buyers thus find synergies and gain advantageous investments. On the other hand, the original owners can receive interesting capital for their further business, or join a larger group of companies, with the proviso that they will be able to implement much larger orders, “comments the situation on the Húsek market.
The J&T Thein joint fund was founded by former O2 director Tomáš Budník with the J&T group. Budník holds 65 percent of it and the rest is held by the investment group of businessman Patrik Tkáč, who is also a co-owner of the publisher of the daily E15. The fund already controls four companies after the acquisition. It has companies such as Aitcom, Network, and net.pointers in its portfolio.
