Private equity firm scoops up Getronics' Latin American portfolio from KPN

California-based private equity firm OpenGate Capital has reached an agreement to purchase the Latin American portfolio of ICT service provider Getronics International from its owner, Netherlands telco KPN, the former announced without reporting the price tag. The acquired portfolio comprises operations located in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, which together employ more than 2,000 professionals. The branches focus on services in workspace management, connectivity, data centers and consultancy to global enterprise accounts in each of their respective countries. The purchase marks OpenGate Capital's second Latin American investment after the firm's acquisition of Philips Business Communications, now renamed Sopho, in 2010. "OpenGate expects Getronics Latam to be highly synergistic with Sopho, complementing and enriching the companies' range of enterprise business solutions and expanding the breadth and reach of the companies' blue-chip customer base," the release said. Commenting on Latin America's "tremendous opportunity for growth," Andrew Nikou, managing partner and founder of OpenGate Capital, said that the Getronics Latin America business was attractive for two reasons. "Firstly, Getronics' strong brand and undisputed reputation in the ICT sector; secondly, its clear complementarity with our existing Brazilian ICT business, which gives us a unique opportunity to accelerate the growth of this expanded platform both organically and through acquisitions." KPN Amid falling profits, Dutch operator KPN decided to sell off Getronics' European operations outside the Netherlands to Germany's Aurelius AG, and the Latin American business to OpenGate Capital. The disposed businesses had combined sales of 665mn euros (currently US$865mn) last year. KPN bought Getronics for 776mn euros in 2007, according to the Associated Press. KPN's 4Q11 net earnings dropped 63% to 176mn euros, while revenues were down 0.4% to 3.38bn euros. The lower earnings result from the direct impact to KPN of smartphones users turning to free services such as Skype and WhatsApp, and may have possible implications for larger rivals Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom, the AP reported. KPN CEO Eelco Blok said 2012 will be "a year of transition in the Netherlands."