Wolters Kluwer announced today that it has acquired Val Informatique S.A., establishing its position in the French health, safety and environment (HSE) market. Val Informatique has sales of approximately EUR 6.5 million and is a leader in the growing French occupational health and safety market. The company has operations in Narbonne and near Lyon, and employs approximately 65 employees. The acquisition of Val Informatique is in line with Wolters Kluwer's strategy to foster software tools for its core markets, increasing opportunities for workflow-integrated product development within the Legal, Tax & Business Europe cluster. Financial terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
Val Informatique develops, markets and sells information systems and services to the occupational HSE market, where its products track approximately 9.4 million employees in France, representing 40% of the workforce. French law requires companies to provide and record regular health checks in the workplace. Val Informatique sells its workflow software to two major customer groups in this area: companies with an in-house checking and documentation service, and commercial providers for smaller organizations.
Val Informatique also provides a fully rounded service to its customers: alongside the workflow software, customers can take advantage of Val Informatique's technical support and development and ongoing training as required, as well as the necessary hardware for their products.
'The acquisition of Val Informatique is a perfect opportunity for us to establish a new bridgehead in this market,' says Jean-Marc M. Detailleur, member of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer and CEO of Legal, Tax & Business Europe, 'We look forward to take advantage of the significant opportunities for cross selling (integrating content and tools) and co-development within Wolters Kluwer France which Val Informatique will provide.'
'Val Informatique is a recognized brand name in its market, and the company has strong customer loyalty. Combine this with the healthy position of Wolters Kluwer France in the HSE market with products such as 'Hygiene and Security' of our operating company Lamy, and you have the recipe for solid future development in France. We look forward to the opportunity for increased market penetration of both product lines.'
Val Informatique is the second workflow software related acquisition of
Wolters Kluwer in France within a month. In May Wolters Kluwer acquired Ciceron SA, based near Paris. Ciceron provides workflow software to legal professionals in France. The product range of the company covers small, medium and large law firms and in-house legal counsels.
Note for the editor: Wolters Kluwer is a multinational information services company with annual sales of approximately EUR 3.8 billion, employing approximately 20,000 people in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. The company's core activities are Legal & Regulatory, International Health, and Education. The Wolters Kluwer shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam. The financial results for the first half 2002 will be announced on August 13, 2002.