UPDATE: Capgemini Continues Buying Spree With Prosodie Deal

French IT services company Capgemini (CAP.FR) continued its buying spree Tuesday, agreeing the EUR382 million acquisition of Prosodie, a French company that manages business-to-business client transactions and is controlled by private equity fund Apax Partners.

It is Capgemini's fourth deal this year, as the company looks to boost its revenue through acquisitions, and will expand its presence in Europe.

Capgemini said it is in exclusive talks with Prosodie's management team and Apax Partners, which first invested in Prosodie in 1997, to buy the company for a total enterprise value of EUR382 million, which includes the cost of two recent acquisitions - Internet-Fr in France and LevelIP in Italy.

Prosodie, which offers client relationship and prepayment services across multiple channels including the Internet and mobile phones, already has operations in France, Spain and Belgium.

"Our aim is to develop Prosodie outside of France and quickly double its revenue," Capgemini Chief Executive Paul Hermelin said in a conference call.

"Prosodie won't be the last acquisition of the year but it will be a major acquisition of this year," Hermelin said, adding that the group continues to look for interesting targets in emerging markets but isn't looking for very large transformational deals.

Earlier this year, Capgemini bought two small companies in France, Avantias and Artesys, as well as U.S.-based BI Consulting Group.

In 2010, Prosodie posted consolidated revenue of EUR172 million and an operating margin of 15.9%. The company has 861 employees.

In a separate statement, Apax Partners said Prosodie's current operating income more than doubled in the last four years to EUR26.3 million in 2010.

The acquisition will increase Capgemini's operating margin and net earnings per share, by at least 3% in 2011 and around 4% in 2012, before any operating synergies, Capgemini said.

Capgemini said the deal, which it will finance with cash, is expected to complete by the end of July.

At 0751 GMT, Capgemini shares were trading up 1.6% to EUR38.28 in a higher Paris market.

-By Ruth Bender and Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1754; ruth.bender@dowjones.com

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