IBM Acquires Full Ownership of Brazilian SMB Services Firm Global Value Solutions

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL - 06 Sep 2006: IBM (NYSE: IBM) has fully acquired Global Value Solutions SA, a Brazilian IT services provider serving the small and medium business market.

Since 2001, GVS has been a joint venture by IBM and Fiat, with each company holding a 50-percent stake. With this agreement, IBM acquires Fiat’s stake in the company as part of IBM’s plan to grow and strengthen its presence in the Brazilian IT services market for SMB companies.

“IBM is already the largest IT and business consulting services provider in Brazil, and adding GVS capabilities helps us continue our expansion in the growing SMB market,” said Rogério Oliveira, president of IBM Brazil. IBM employs about 9,000 people in Brazil, with roughly half of them in services.

GVS is headquartered in Nova Lima, in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. It is one of the five largest companies in the state of Minas Gerais, with about 400 employees in five locations. It provides system integration and other IT services to clients in the automotive, automobile parts, metallurgy, finance, services and telecommunications industries.

“Our full affiliation with IBM will allow GVS to expand rapidly in Brazil’s SMB market,” said Octavis Augustus, general manager for GVS. “We will continue to focus on developing new offerings and solutions for this important client segment.”

About IBM
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About Global Value Solutions
Global Value Solutions counts FIAT Group, Grand Sapore, Engevox, Fábio Perini and Grampos Aço among its clients. The company’s portfolio of services and offerings includes services of hosting/co-location, applications management and software development, ERP consulting and application, network management, security management, on demand printing, business continuity and recovery services, service desk, IT consulting, workstation support (PCs, notebooks and thin clients) and industrial solutions (CAD, CAE, CAM, traceability, RFID and PLM).

Contact Information

Jay Cadmus

IBM Media Relations

IBM

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