Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company has chosen TietoEnator as its strategic IT partner and will establish a joint venture with TietoEnator.
As stated in the partnership agreement, the new company will launch operations on 1 January 2005. The agreement covers the development and implementation of Ilmarinen's information systems, related application management and support services, as well as other professional IT services. Production services are not included in the agreement. The joint venture talks were announced in April, and the agreement now signed will be valid for five years, that is, until the end of 2009.
The new company will co-operate with TietoEnator's Banking & Insurance business area to develop Ilmarinen's IT processes, operative information systems and online services. Some 140 of Ilmarinen's IT professionals will transfer to the new company. TietoEnator will own 70% and Ilmarinen 30% of the joint venture share capital, while 30% of the votes will be held by TietoEnator and 70% by Ilmarinen. The deal will be carried out as a business transfer, with first-year net sales estimated to amount to some EUR 20 million. The owners have agreed to appoint Markku Luoma-aho from TietoEnator as Managing Director of the new company.
"We are extremely satisfied to enter into co-operation with a partner like Ilmarinen, which plays a leading role in Finland as an active developer of pension insurance services. Our co-operation offers Ilmarinen an opportunity for comprehensive development of new electronic services but also for more efficient application management and further development of existing systems. The production of IT services calls for special skills, and the partnership model offers an excellent framework in this respect," says Seppo Haapalainen from TietoEnator.
"We were looking for a skilled and reliable partner that is familiar with the pension and insurance business and understands the significance of IT in our business and its development. We also wanted to see references of successfully managed IT and service projects suitable for our needs. In view of all this, our choice fell on TietoEnator," explains Juhani Karjasilta from Ilmarinen.