Midlands firm advises data solutions company on latest acquisition

NTT DATA Business Solutions AG, a global partner of SAP, has acquired Sapphire, a UK-based digital operations software and services provider.

Headquartered in London with an additional site in Coventry, NTT says it aims to enhance SAP solutions through innovation, covering advisory, implementation and managed services.

Deloitte’s Midlands Lead Advisory team advised NTT on the transaction.

More than 1,200 existing customers, with an average 7-year relationship with Sapphire, will now become part of the NTT/NTT DATA Group.

NTT plans to leverage the global ServiceNow business through Sapphire’s partnership capabilities.

The Deloitte Lead Advisory team, led by partner Darren Boocock and directors Andy Moody and Dan Marchington, with support from Alex Watts and Abi Hyde, played a key role in advising NTT on this strategic acquisition.

Darren Boocock, corporate finance partner at Deloitte, said: “This was a great transaction to be involved in. We provided NTT Data with a range of specialist buy-side services, led by our Midlands Lead Advisory team, including Financial Due Diligence, Tax and other advisory services.

“Our ability to offer both a full range of specialist M&A skills and a detailed understanding of the Digital Transformation and Managed Services markets from our Midlands TMT team was important to be able to deliver the transaction.  The acquisition of Sapphire offers many advantages for NTT Data not least the ability to comprehensively serve enterprise and SME customers in the UK and US, including offering both private and public cloud capabilities.