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Swisscom, one of Switzerland’s largest internet providers, has acquired a local consultancy called Camptocamp that assists companies with open-source software rollouts.

The firms didn’t disclose the deal’s price tag, but did say Swisscom isn’t buying Camptocamp outright. The carrier has only purchased a majority stake, a fairly common practice in consulting sector M&A transactions. Such a deal structure usually means the founding team has retained a minority stake that the acquirer might buy later, perhaps at a premium over the acquisition price, if certain performance incentives are met post-closing.

Camptocamp has a team of 190 people who are mostly based at its headquarters near Lausanne. The firm’s client acquisition strategy focuses primarily on Switzerland’s German-speaking regions, but it also maintains a presence in Germany and France.

Camptocamp helps large companies adopt open-source software products such as Odoo, a popular free ERP developed by a Belgian firm. It’s also active in other areas besides the ERP space. Camptocamp works with clients to modernize how they manage their IT infrastructure and roll out systems for managing location data.

Swisscom has an existing IT consulting business focused primarily on the local market. This business experienced notable growth in 2023, boosting its top line by 32 million Swiss francs. After checking last year’s sales numbers, Swisscom’s leadership team evidently decided to double down and see if it can further accelerate the company’s IT consulting momentum with an acquisition.

Thomas Wettstein, the head of IT solutions at Swisscom’s business-to-business division, commented that “Camptocamp complements Swisscom’s already extensive portfolio of solutions, notably in the field of geo-information systems. Together, we want to achieve significant growth in this area.”

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