NTT Data acquires Dell Services to further expand footprint

NTT Data, part of the Japanese NTT telco conglomerate, has bought Dell’s IT services division for $3.055 billion (£2.14bn).

The acquisition is NTT Data’s largest to date, and also gives the company a much-valued foot in the door to the US market as it seeks to strengthen its position in IT services.

Dell, on the other hand, will be pleased to make money ahead of its $67 billion purchase of EMC.

NTT Data CEO John McCain said that the acquisition of Dell Services provides a “unique opportunity” for NTT to increase its competitiveness.

“Dell Services is a very well-run business and we believe its employee base, long-standing client relationships, and the mix of long term and project-based work will enhance our portfolio,” he said. “We are confident this transaction will be positive for clients, employees and shareholders, and will advance our collective vision to be an innovative partner for our clients.”

NTT Data also gets access to an increased infrastructure platform, with the Dell Services data centres in the US, UK and Australia joining NTT’s 230 data centres around the world. One if its main areas of focus with Dell Services will be the healthcare industry. Other “attractive” verticals on NTT’s list will be financial services, insurance and the public sector.

Dell Services will continue to operate under the leadership of Suresh Vaswani, president of Dell Services.

“I’m proud of the job the Services leadership team has done in driving and modernising the business, achieving industry-leading customer satisfaction scores, and winning marquee deals with global companies across industries,” said Vaswani.

“This acquisition will create even more value for customers and will benefit employees as they become part of a top ten global IT services business.”

The acquisition by NTT Data follows the capture of Dimension Data and US player Keane in 2010, and other purchases including Cirquent in Germany, Value Team in Italy and Intelligroup.

The price it is paying for Dell Services is around $800 million less than what Dell paid for Perot back in 2009 to establish its services business.