On 18 May 2018, the CARL Software group joined the Berger-Levrault group.
This rapprochement will enable the two software publishing companies to pool their expertise, widen the extent of their product offering, and strengthen their leading position on an international scale. It comes as CARL Software, which has seen 21 consecutive years of growth and has for several years been the French market leader, records its best year ever. Similarly, Berger-Levrault recorded remarkable results in 2017 and is the ninth-largest publisher in its sector, according to the 2017 EY and Syntec Numérique report.
Eric Bonnet comments on this key milestone in the life of the company that he founded in 1985 and has led for over 30 years:
“As you may know, CARL is an adventure that began in the 1980s. I was 17 years old when I wrote the first lines of the CMMS software that would later become CARL. Now, 33 years later, thanks to the energy and talent of the entire staff, and thanks to the trust of its customers, the company has experienced 21 consecutive years of growth. It has become the French market leader, while expanding into several other countries. And it has just recorded the best year of its entire history.
And yet, CARL’s story is only just beginning.
For many years, CARL’s body of shareholders has remained unchanged. But one thing became clear to me several months ago: the qualities required to manage a company of 50 employees are not the same as those required to manage an international group that is going from strength to strength: CARL will soon have a workforce of more than 200 employees. Furthermore, the challenges that we aim to meet in the future mean that we will need a group structure capable of supporting our ambitions, whether these be in terms of product innovation or international development.
This rapprochement has arisen from a meeting of the minds, and could not have taken place had there not been a real alignment between the values of CARL Software and those of Berger-Levrault. This is underscored by a complementarity that has convinced both parties that we will be stronger together than separately. The Berger-Levrault Group is a leading French software publisher, but is not a competitor to our solutions. It therefore struck me as being the ideal candidate for a move of this nature.
This decision is entirely in keeping with the strategy that I have advocated for a long time, seeking to remain independent of pressure from financial shareholders while ensuring that CARL Software continues in the direction of stable and sustainable growth.
I am therefore very happy and proud, not only to have enabled this union to come about, in collaboration with Pierre-Marie Lehucher, CEO of Berger-Levrault, but also to have the opportunity, in the coming months, to continue to take part in writing the next part of the story, as Vice-President.”
For CARL Software, this operation is all about continuity: CARL Software will remain an autonomous company within the Berger-Levrault Group, but will benefit, through its new shareholder, from a greater capacity for growth and innovation, enabling it to pursue, with augmented resources, the development of its business solutions, and accelerate its international expansion.
This new outlook does not in any way change the company’s organisation, products or services. CARL Software remains the same company: its existing business, identity, teams and locations (in France and abroad) remain completely unchanged.
Berger-Levrault, specialising in regulations and public usage, has become an international group with 1,500 employees in France, Spain, Canada and Morocco, and more than 55,000 customers. It is currently best known in the public sector, where it has provided support for the development of services through a comprehensive range of software and advice, aimed at public authorities, local public-sector bodies, public and private healthcare establishments, and the education sector. It also has proven expertise in asset management, through the Atal platform, intended for the public domain.
For Pierre-Marie Lehucher, CEO of Berger-Levrault and now also CEO of CARL Software:
“This rapprochement with CARL Software is fully consistent with the Group’s strategy to develop its presence in new markets, in particular in the private sector.
It will enable us to achieve our ambition of creating a high-performance capability centre in the Smart Cities sector, combining the strengths and expertise of Berger-Levrault with the particularly sophisticated technologies of CARL Software. New investment capacity will serve to strengthen CARL’s leading position across all of its areas of activity, including the industrial, services, transport and healthcare sectors.
Furthermore, with 250 employees in Spain and 150 in Canada, Berger-Levrault’s international sites will serve as valuable assets to boost CARL Software’s international development.
CARL Software’s position as market leader, imposes upon us not a privilege, but a duty: that of continuing to provide with the very best equipment management solutions in the future. “
In 2018, Berger-Levrault and CARL Software will together form a group with 1700 staff, and expect to record revenue of €165 million, with export sales accounting for 25% of this. The combined group is ready to respond to the major changes facing the sector: industry of the future, smart cities and buildings, environmental challenges, energy efficiency, and so on.
