mexican softtek buys spanish it services company, vector itc
Contxto – Mexican digital solutions developer Softtek made an end of the year acquisition. Specifically, it announced the purchase of 75 percent of Madrid-based tech firm Vector ITC’s stock.
Carlos Delgado, CEO of Vector ITC, will continue on at the head of the company. And in addition, he’ll be joining Softtek’s Executive Committee as part of its European branch.
With the addition of 3,000 of Vector ITC’s staff, Softtek reports a total number of 15,000 employees throughout the world.
Adding IT services to its vast portfolio
Softtek had previously worked with Vector ITC in a formal partnership launched in April of 2019. Back then, they’d kicked-off by working on creating digital solutions for banking, consumer products, and industrial sectors.
Moreover, Vector ITC was experiencing significant growth in Europe and Latin America throughout 2019. Which was added to the list of Softtek’s motives to move forward with the acquisition.
As part of that team-up, Softtek had also made a minor investment into its Spanish associate. However, this recent acquisition suggests that Softtek liked what it found in its partner and wanted it for keeps.
“With this acquisition, our penetration and scope of service in the European market are strengthened, which allows us to achieve a very balanced position between the U.S., Latin America, and Europe,” explained Blanca Treviño, CEO at Softtek.
Softtek and female leadership
Perhaps I’m shooting myself in the foot here by mentioning Softtek, a company that was founded in 1982 and boasts around 15,000 employees, on a site that’s all about Latam startups. However, its leadership offers hope for a more positive future for women in IT.
This company was founded by Blanca Treviño a Mexican woman who, in previous employment, had been asked to sign a letter of resignation in case she ever got married. Despite having to navigate through a predominantly male industry, she’s brought up the behemoth in IT services that is Softtek.
Besides running the company, she’s also acted as a strong advocate for women in science, tech, engineering and math (STEM)-related fields.
But there’s still a long way to go.
Related article: 19 female-founded startups from Lima
According to Grant Thornton’s report “Women in Business 2019,” in Mexico, only 26 percent of leadership roles are occupied by women. This does place it above Brazil and Argentina which are at 25 percent and 20 percent respectively. Albeit the organization noted that Mexico saw an 8 percent fall in comparison to 2018.
One step forward, two steps back. Or so the saying goes…
-ML
