Jean Charles Bouillet This is Me

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1. 1. Genesys.com | Genesys Executives

   www.alohaconferencing.com/asp/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/7/2003   Last Visited: 8/7/2003

   Jean Charles Bouillet
   
   Director for Business Development - Unilog SA

2. 2. The Catalyst Group: Catalyst in Print

   www.itcatalyst.com/about/print - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/24/2002   Last Visited: 7/30/2006

   "In the UK we can't start absolutely from scratch," says Jean Charles Bouillet, who, as director of corporate development for Unilog, is in charge of all its M&A deals. Buying its way in was the only way to go. "It's much easier because it saves time," he explains.
   ...
   And for large acquisitions, ones involving more than 500 people, "we simply inform all the major M&A banks," says Bouillet.
   
   He claims that he's in touch with 10 banks in the UK and that it was such contacts which led to the MarchFirst deal. Credit Suisse First Boston put the deal in front of Unilog in February and it was sewn up by the end of May.
   ...
   This meant that Bouillet had to be quick on his feet. The time from CSFB suggesting the deal to the first written proposal from Unilog was just a week.
   
   Bouillet was helped by MarchFirst's US parent being willing to help. On day two Bouillet sat down for dinner with the firm's CFO. "I got a lot of information on the group. He made it very clear to me that we needed to make a decision within two weeks, which was true."
   
   Teleconference calls between Unilog's various European teams followed while the firm worked out how to proceed. Once the offer was on the table, Bouillet spent a month in the UK, meeting the team - one of the most important issues in the takeover of a service company. " All the value of a company is in the people, so if you lose the people you lose the value," he maintains.
   ...
   It wasn't just speed that kept Bouillet occupied through the MarchFirst deal. Any cross-border acquisition throws up problems of different legislation, local rules and difficulties of financial transfers - and of course, in this particular case, all the issues of dealing with a bankrupt company, especially as the European subsidiaries were financed by loans which the US administrators began to call back. "Typically the most difficult thing was to get people in front of you who can make decisions," says Bouillet.
   
   Once the nitty-gritty of an acquisition has been completed, there are still the myriad problems of integration. The only real issue for Bouillet was people, specifically the senior management. "Of course, the guys there had their own ideas on how to run the business," he says, and this meant the CEO had to go.
   ...
   Bouillet says he wants to do a major acquisition in the UK this year, with the aim of taking his staff count from around 200 to over 1,000.
   ...
   But for all those weighing up their options, Bouillet has one simple piece of advice: "I would never recommend anyone to make a cross-border acquisition of a bankrupt company."

3. 3. Genesys.com | Genesys Executives

   www.genesys.com/asp/abo_mgmt_b - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/26/2003   Last Visited: 7/26/2003

   Jean Charles Bouillet
   
   Director for Business Development - Unilog SA