Yesterday Altran announced the acquisition of Lohika, a Silicon Valley-headquartered software development company with Ukrainian roots. The acquisition is expected to be completed in 2016 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Altran expects this acquisition to increase its revenues in North America by more than 40% by the end of 2016. It will also make the USA the second largest region for the group on a revenue basis.
“The combination of Lohika with Altran will create a superior value proposition, enabling the Group to reach a leadership position in software product development on the US West Coast,” Altran stated, hailing Lohika’s “elite engineering teams.”
Like many other Ukrainian IT service companies, Lohika serves mainly US companies. Its client portfolio includes such established companies as Microsoft, Cisco and HP Enterprise as well as start-ups like AudienceScience, BuzzFeed, Twilio and Okta.
The acquisition thus contributes to expanding Altra’s client portfolio in Silicon Valle’s high-tech ecosystem. “This is in line with our strategic objective of achieving €500 million in revenue in the US by 2020,” Altran stated.
From mobile, to cloud, to Big Data
Lohika has some 600 software engineers employed in its R&D centers in three Ukrainian cities — Kyiv (Kiev), Lviv (Lvov) and Odessa — and another 100 in Cluj, Romania (see more details in UADN’s report on the Ukrainian IT outsourcing industry).
Altran expects these teams strengthen its to current capabilities in the fields of mobile, enterprise systems, Big Data solutions and cloud computing.
Commenting on the purchase, Dominique Cerutti, Chairman and CEO of the Altran Group, stated: “I’m thrilled with this acquisition, which is fully aligned with our ‘Altran 2020. Ignition’ strategic plan. After the acquisitions of Tessella, which has operations in the USA, and of Synapse a few weeks ago, (…) the acquisition of Lohika will enable us to [leverage] our delivery capabilities across all sectors and geographies. [This] will enhance our value proposition in software engineering, which is becoming prevalent in the R&D space.”
A global innovation and engineering consulting firm founded in France in 1982, Altran has over 17,000 employees in more than 20 countries. Its revenues neared €2 billion in 2015.
Founded in 2001, Lohika is privately held and funded by venture investors including Altos Ventures, Draper Richards, and several private investors.
