ATCO sells internal IT dept. for $210M, then outsources IT
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Utilities and services company ATCO has sold its IT department to Australia's Wipro, Ltd., then signs a 10-year IT services contract with Wipro
EDMONTON, Alta—Diversified industrial and utilities corporation ATCO Ltd. has inked a $210-million deal to sell it’s internal information technology (IT) division ATCO I-Tek to Australian technology service provider Wipro.
Alberta-Based ATCO then signed a series of service agreements contracting Wipro to provide ATCO with “a full suite of IT services.”
ATCO said the decision to sell its IT services division and then outsource IT support was influenced by continued difficulty in obtaining approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission to increase prices to recover IT costs.
“This alliance ensures ATCO can focus on growing our core businesses of structures and logistics, utilities and energy while Wipro delivers the strategic and innovative IT solutions required to support our global operations,” said Brian Bale, ATCO’s senior vice-president and chief financial officer.
Wipro will also acquire all the shares of ATCO I-Tek, including current contracts and employees, as well as the assets of ATCO I-Tek Australia. ATCO I-Tek will operate as a subsidiary under Wipro. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014.
We are delighted to collaborate with ATCO in this transformational initiative,” said Anand Padmanabhan, chief executive of energy, natural resources and utilities at Wipro Ltd.
“Our focus will be to enable ATCO to enhance their competitiveness through the deployment of strategic solutions and efficient delivery of IT services. We are confident that our domain expertise combined with the enhanced talent pool will help us support ATCO’s growth. We have traditionally had a strong position in the Utilities space in Europe and this engagement provides momentum to our business in Canada and Australia. The alliance with ATCO enhances our capability to create, nurture and tap local talent to power our growth journey in Canada.”
ATCO Ltd., with more than 9,800 employees and assets of approximately $16 billion, delivers services to global companies working in Structures & Logistics, Utilities, Energy and Technologies.
Wipro Ltd. is an Australian information technology and business process services company with a workforce of more than 140,000.
In Canada, Wipro has offices in Mississauga and Brantford, Ont., and Calgary.
