CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
13 April 2010
Acquisitions
BlueCielo Acquires Majority Stake in Finnish Software Company Kronodoc Oy
BlueCielo ECM Solutions announced it has acquired a 70 percent stake in Kronodoc Oy, a Finnish company specializing in document management software solutions for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) sector, from funds managed by Pohjola Captal Partners and Canelco Capital, ABB, Shawfield Overseas SA and Novitra Investment Oy. The remaining 30 percent of the company has been acquired by Kronodoc’s management.
Based in Espoo, Finland, Kronodoc has developed sophisticated software solutions to control the immense volume of documents that are exchanged among various parties that work together in large or complex engineering and construction projects. Kronodoc’s solutions contribute to the significant reduction of project quality cost and communication costs in the supplier network during the engineering, manufacturing and construction processes. Kronodoc has its roots in CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland, that runs one of the largest engineering projects in the world. Today, Kronodoc’s solutions are used to support some of the world’s largest industrial projects.
“This strategic acquisition accelerates BlueCielo’s focus on adding value to the Engineering, Procurement and Construction market,” said Martijn Janmaat who has been responsible for the acquisition in his role as president of BlueCielo ECM Solutions.
BlueCielo’s strategy is to add value through the supply of user functionality that supports the requirements of owner/operators and engineering/contracting companies to manage and control asset- and engineering-related documents. BlueCielo’s main focus market is the capital-intensive process industry, including Oil & Gas, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Mining & Metals, Utilities, as well as the EPC industry. BlueCielo’s customer base includes the majority of the world’s industry leaders such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, BASF, Huntsman, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, BHP Billiton, Gerdau, American Electric Power, Entergy, RWE, Flowserve, Bluewater, BAM, Arcadis and many others.
Most of these companies use the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise or BlueCielo ImandrA solution to supplement more general document management systems and to integrate engineering-specific document management with maintenance systems and other business process systems. The independence of BlueCielo from mainstream applications and its focus on engineering documents and asset information allows for optimal integration while maintaining maximum freedom of choice for the customer.
The acquisition of Kronodoc complements the offering of BlueCielo’s management systems with solutions for specific document control in large engineering and construction projects. These are typical projects in BlueCielo’s focus markets.
BlueCielo’s global market presence will reinforce the international rollout of Kronodoc products which until now, for strategic reasons of the previous owners, were mainly marketed in Finland. Kronodoc’s customers include ABB, Botnia, Neste Oil and Wartsila.
“With the addition of Kronodoc we are increasing the value we add to our markets, while obtaining meaningful synergy as well,” said BlueCielo’s CEO Luuth van der Scheer.
Rainer Puittinen, one of the founders of Kronodoc, will continue as the company’s managing director. “At Kronodoc we have had the tremendous opportunity to work with some of the largest projects that have ever been undertaken by mankind,” said Puittinen. “The supplier networks of global multibillion dollar megaprojects such as the biggest cruise liners or nuclear power plants comprise hundreds of suppliers on all continents and thousands of global users who collaborate on hundreds of thousands of documents to create those huge devices and installations. In such projects, document flows drive all activities, be it engineering, purchasing or construction. With Kronodoc document control, document flows are timely and efficient which ensures that lead-times and errors are minimized, leading to faster delivery at lower quality cost. Documents drive big projects and Kronodoc controls those documents.”
Puittinen continued, “Although our customers and users have been global since day one, our strategy has been to be a local supplier operating close to our customers. We are truly excited about the new ownership structure since our market focuses are totally aligned and our offerings complement each other on customer value chains perfectly. BlueCielo has the global presence and organization to truly make Kronodoc a global player and catalyze our international growth.”
Kronodoc has 23 experienced and qualified staff who will remain based in Espoo. Van der Scheer and Janmaat will both join the board of Kronodoc.
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