France's Sopra Proposes To Buy IBM France's HR Access Service Line

Sopra Group SA, a French consultancy, systems integration and application outsourcing company, Thursday announced the proposed acquisition of Access Service Line, currently owned by IBM France, of technology giant International Business Machines Corp. or IBM. The financial details have not been made public.

Sopra said the acquisition would take the form of a partial transfer of business. The proposal has been approved by Sopra's Board of Directors. The acquisition, subject to the usual conditions precedent including consultation with employee-representative bodies, is expected to be finalised in July 2014.

The company expects the acquisition, which will be through its subsidiary Sopra HR Software, would increase significantly the pace at which Sopra is deploying its strategy for human resources solutions.

The company expects that the annual pro forma revenue of Human Resources solutions would be approximately 150 million euros in 2014.

For Sopra, this proposed acquisition,would further the strategic plan which targets a strong presence in software solutions and associated services, the company noted.