LogicaCMG sells telecoms busin

Atlantic Bridge Ventures, a private equity house based in Ireland and the UK, has acquired Dutch/UK IT services company LogicaCMG for €393.4m (£265m).

Atlantic Bridge is being backed on the deal by Russian-born US billionaire Len Blavatnik, who indirectly owns part of TNK-BP, and also by fellow Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond. Larry Quinn, the former chief executive and chairman of Logica Mobile Networks from 1997 to 2003, is also part of the consortium.

It is understood, however, that Quinn will not be leading the board of the divested LogicaCMG business, which has been renamed Acision and which provides SMS, multimedia messaging and voicemail services to telecoms operators worldwide. Its board will remain unchanged.

LogicaCMG believes it will return about £130m to shareholders from the sale through a share buyback programme during the rest of the year. The company plans to use the remaining net proceeds to reduce its debt and to fund the buyout of some existing minority interests.

Martin Read, LogicaCMG’s chief executive, said: “Over the last two years, we have significantly improved the profitability of the telecoms products business and developed a new product range. We have now secured an attractive sale price for the strengthened business. This divestment allows LogicaCMG to focus on its core strengths in IT and business services.”