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Rabat – German international publisher Bertelsmann and Morocco’s Saham have planned to merge their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) businesses in a new company.
The new company, Arvato, is a service provider and a division of Bertelsmann which it will fold into a joint venture. Bertelsmann and Saham Group will hold 50 percent each of Arvato and enter a long term partnership, Bertelsmann announced today.
“We are opening a new chapter for the Arvato CRM businesses. The new company would hold leading market positions in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East as well as a strong presence in the Americas and Asia,” said Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann’s chairman and CEO.
Rabe also stated that the new company “will invest several hundred million euro in the next years, to further expand its regional footprint and to enhance its digital capabilities and services to its customers,” he added.
The combined company expects to create around 48,000 job positions in 25 countries: 25,000 employees in 10 European countries; 14,000 employees in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia; and 9,000 employees in Asia, Canada, the US, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.
Bertelsmann is a media company operating in 50 countries around the world and has 119,000 employees. In 2017, the German company generated revenues of €17.2 billion.
#Bertelsmann and #Saham plan to create leading CRM group:
– they plan to combine their respective worldwide CRM businesses
– partners to each hold 50 percent of the new company
– global presence in 25 countrieshttps://t.co/cE7KbclYqt, pic.twitter.com/WIMnbipiGr— Bertelsmann_com (@Bertelsmann_com) September 18, 2018
The new Arvato, which is expected to be formed by January 2019, plans to generate revenues of approximately €1.2 billion and would have a client portfolio of international blue-chip companies, including the largest tech companies, according to the German company’s statement.
Saham Group is a family-owned corporation founded in 1995 by Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Morocco’s current minister of industry. It operates in 27 countries in different sectors, such as insurance, real estate, healthcare, and education and employs 16,000 people. In 2017, Saham Group had a turnover of $1.4 billion.
“Together, we are fully committed to invest long-term in growth, expand our regional footprint, provide digital solutions to our customers and create employment,” said Moulay Mhamed Elalamy, Saham’s spokesperson.
Elalamy added, “The new company shall be well positioned to participate in the strong growth of the worldwide CRM markets, in particular for digital companies, telecom providers, and financial institutions.”
Bertelsmann appointed Thomas Mackenbrock as Arvato’s CEO and Saham will appoint the new company’s chairman of the board.
The transaction between Saham Group and Bertelsmann is pending regulatory approvals and employee representative consultation.
