BT gets Control in pounds 200m deal

BRITISH TELECOM is set to confirm today that it has bought systems integrator Control Data Corp of the US in a deal thought to be worth over pounds 200m.

The move follows the internal merger last month of BT's Syntegra and Syncordia units into a new operation called BT Solutions. The unit is to target the telecoms and computer system integration needs of multi- national corporations, and has planned an aggressive attack on the US market.

This market sector is seeing rapid growth as businesses expand information technology investment and corporations move further toward true global operating structures. BT and international joint venture partner AT&T have targeted the solutions and system integration sector, both being drawn closer together through the spread of Internet protocol technology, as a key market for future growth.

Buying Control Data will intensify competition in the UK system integration market, until now dominated by a handful of companies, including Sema Group, ICL and MISYS. Control Data is owned by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a US private equity group that specialises in information, transaction and technology companies. BT stock closed down 9p at 1063p.