Swisscom has spun off its IT subsidiary and merged it with bank-owned AGI IT Services to create a new company charged with providing systems integration and outsourcing services to the financial and telecoms sectors.
The company will enter the market at the beginning of 2002 under the name of Swisscom IT Services AG. It will employ around 2300 staff and aim to achieve annual revenues of approximately Sfr900 million.
Swisscom holds a 71.1% majority share in the venture, which will be headed by AGI chief Urs Stahlberger, a former head of software development at Credit Suisse.
The merger will bring together know-how in the fields of telecommunications, IT and financial services. The new company will have a presence in 18 Swiss towns and will focus on consolidation in the banking segment, with a particular emphasis on systems integration and outsourcing.
The company will also sell software derived from Swisscom's Electronic Commerce Solutions unit, including technology already in use among AGI's eight cantonal banks.