Bechtle intends to buy French cybersecurity and digital infrastructure services company, Apixit

• Apixit adds IT services to Bechtle’s portfolio in the French market
• More than 1,000 employees in France for the first time
• Bechtle continues to pursue European acquisition strategy

Neckarsulm, 5 July 2023 – Bechtle AG intends to purchase the French IT company, Apixit S.A.S., headquartered in Les Ulis, near Paris. An offer to this effect was made today. As is standard practice in France, Apixit’s workers’ council will be consulted and the approval of the responsible French authorities sought before the purchase agreement is legally concluded. This acquisition would mark the expansion of Bechtle’s IT services portfolio into a sixth European country after Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Netherlands and would be the 110th acquisition in the company’s history. The Bechtle purchase would see the current group of financial investors withdrawing from the company, but there would be no changes to Apixit’s executive management.

Apixit employs some 340 staff and achieved revenues of 85 million euros in the 2020/21 fiscal year. The IT service provider was established in 2018 after the fusion of systems integrators DCI and RETIS, both of which had been a mainstay in the French market for three decades. Apixit’s focus is firmly on cybersecurity including a Security Operations Centre (SOC) for all security-related IT services at organisations or companies—an area that accounts for 45 % of its revenues. Furthermore, the company offers its 1,000+ SME and large enterprise customers IT infrastructure solutions, digital workplace concepts, network solutions and managed services as well as consultancy, auditing and deployment. Apixit has ten regional sites in Lille, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Les Ulis (headquarters), Rennes, Quimper, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux Toulouse and Maisons-Laffitte.

Strengthening French market position
Bechtle has been active on the French market since 2000. Bechtle direct made the start, and in the meantime the subsidiaries Bechtle Comsoft and Inmac Wstore as well as Cadmes have joined. Apixit would complement the Bechtle Group’s current locations in Paris, Antony, Roissy-en-France, Plessis, Angoulême, Illkirch-Graffenstaden and Sophia Antipolis. The purchase would serve to consolidate Bechtle’s position as one of the five largest IT companies in France, the third largest IT market in Europe after the United Kingdom and Germany. The Bechtle Group companies in France would gain access to Apixit’s significant experience and capabilities in managed services and project management, including its Network Operations Centre (NOC) and Security Operations Centre (SOC), while Apixit would benefit from Bechtle’s extensive end user base and expertise in multi-cloud scenarios. Together with Apixit, the number of employees of the Bechtle Group in France increases to almost 1,200.

Perfect match of two established IT companies
“With Apixit, we are taking another big step towards European market leadership. The IT company is run by an excellent leadership team and will augment our already significant foothold in the French market. Apixit and Bechtle are much more than just matching pieces in the french puzzle, we also expect new synergies that will benefit all Bechtle Group companies,” says Konstantin Ebert, Executive Vice President for France, Benelux and the UK, Bechtle AG.

Fabrice Tusseau, Chairman, Apixit: “With Bechtle, we are in a position to offer our customers and employees outstanding perspectives for the future in France and in Europe. Our organisations complement each other very well, and we are on the same wavelength in terms of both our cultures and our ambitious goals.”