Tycoon Komárek looking West with huge new IT firm
Tycoon Karel Komárek is expanding into the IT business in a big way, iHned.cz reported. His group KKCG is setting up a new holding company that aims to be the biggest Czech-owned IT firm in the country – and also to expand to Western European markets, the news website said.
Now he is putting selected technology firms that he already owns, which develop software and sell computer equipment, into a freshly established, as yet unnamed holding company, iHned.cz reported.
The head of the new KKCG IT group, Milan Sameš, told the website that its aim was to gradually move into Western European markets, though he did not rule out acquisitions east of the Czech Republic.
Mr. Komárek entered the information technology arena in 2010, when he set up DataSpring, a data centres operator that is one of the region’s fastest growing tech firms.
In 2017 he took control of the biggest Czech IT supplier, Autocont, and earlier this year he added the Prague-based development company Cleverlance Enterprise Solutions and AEC, a cyber security firm in Brno, iHned.cz said.
All of these firms now fall under the new IT group, whose combined revenues last year amounted to CZK 6.7 billion. This places it in front of Seznam.cz, which last year had a turnover of CZK 4.5 billion.
The move creates synergy, with DataSpring’s cloud servers storing the data for the entire KKCG group, while AEC looks after its security and Autocont supplies technology, the website said. Cleverlance also creates programmes for Sazka.
While DataSpring mainly works with major corporations, it is looking at offering cloud services to small and medium-sized companies.
Milan Sameš told iHned.cz that Czech firms preferred to use domestically based cloud providers, which was why his new IT group was going to buy a company focused on smaller enterprises.
Autocont recently became one of five companies selected as a preferred IT supplier to the European Union and will be able to apply for tenders valued at up to CZK 16 billion in the coming years, iHned said.
Mr. Sameš said this status was a good calling card for the new IT division, which would be looking chiefly at moving into the German and Scandinavian markets. It is already in talks about taking over enterprises in those states, he told the news site.
