BT did not put a value on the deal, but analysts believe that INS would have cost the group about £100 million.
The acquisition of the California-headquartered company will add to BT’s global professional services resources of more than 7,000 people across the globe. The move will see hundreds of consultants join BT, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. I
INS specializes in four major areas -- Enterprise Architecture and Governance, Business Productivity, Information Risk Management, and Infrastructure Transformation. Based in Santa Clara, California, with offices in Europe, Asia and throughout North America, the company builds, implements and secures business technology infrastructures for its customers. It has served some 75 percent of Fortune 500 enterprises and more than half of the Fortune 1000 companies.
Andy Green, chief executive officer of BT Global Services, said: "The INS business is another great services acquisition for us. INS has a proven business model in the Networked IT Services space that we will replicate around the world. At the same time it significantly boosts our ability to supply world class professional services to US-headquartered corporations and increases BT’s presence in the key North American market. INS brings to BT a wealth of consulting and professional services people and the move is fully in line with our strategic goal of becoming the global leader in the digital networked economy."
David Butze, president and chief executive officer of INS, said: "This acquisition really serves as the next step in INS's evolution in expanding our ability to deliver against our core business areas. By combining INS's expertise in business-driven information technology consulting and software solutions with the delivery reach of BT Global Services, we will have an even stronger foundation to build upon while delivering the most sophisticated and comprehensive set of business productivity, IT infrastructure technology and software solutions available in the market place today and in the future."
The deal heralds a new milestone in the execution of BT's global and US growth strategy, and follows the acquisition of California-based Counterpane in October 2006, significantly strengthening BT's overall capabilities in the security and professional services space.
INS has almost 900 people in twelve countries worldwide.
As at the last audited balance sheet date on September 25, 2005, the gross assets of INS were 49.7 million USD.