BT to merge Syncordia and Syntegra

BT is poised to merge its services business units, Syntegra and BT Syncordia Solutions, and create a top 20 global services player in the process, according to analysts.

Speculation that the two units would merge started after the creation of BT Worldwide in February, which promised under the leadership of Alfred Mockett to concentrate on providing, "world class communications services."

In the 3 June issue of its monthly newsletter System House, analyst firm Richard Holway says the two units will merge by August, creating a "formidable force" in the network services market.

The merger will create a UK operation with revenue of £1.2 billion, that grew at a rate of 22 per cent in the last year and that has over 8,000 staff, Holway says.

A spokeswoman for Syntegra said she was unable to comment on the report, but instead, curiously, pointed enquiries towards the BT press release announcing Mockett's appointment in February.

Anthony Millar, analyst at Richard Holway, said combining the systems integration strengths of Syntegra with the network management ability of BT Syncordia Solutions made perfect sense.

"It's almost a statement of the bleedin' obvious that these two should get together with a broader offering," said Millar. "It seemed that BT was really losing out on the potential synergies of two parts of its business."

"It will be a very formidable force in the network related side. We're delighted that BT has decided to do it," he added.

Combined, the two BT units - dubbed BT Solutions - will be one of the top 20 global systems houses, according to Millar, stepping on the turf of major players like EDS and IBM as well as the datacomms providers like Cisco.

"Because of the increasing convergence of telecoms with traditional IT, really anyone in the IT services marketplace clearly has to be able to operate in the context of telecoms services as well," he said.

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