Press room

The operation, which took place on 22 April, is pending approval by the Catalan government, which has 30 days to make its decision. Bufete Castilla acted as advisors to the buyers and “la Caixa” to the sellers.

GEC closed the financial year 2008 with a 10% rise in turnover to more than 10 million euros. The objective for 2009 is to continue growing at the same rate.

The new shareholders aim to help the management team make GEC the sector leader in e-learning in Europe by driving the business plan in a market in which the big players (GEC clients) are moving from classroom-based teaching to e-learning, with the clear desire to reduce costs while maintaining the same amount of training for their employees.

GECSA
GEC offers training and knowledge management solutions that meet the needs of large companies, provide value for their businesses and let them improve the efficiency of their employees. To achieve these aims, it defines training strategies, produces and provides accredited online university courses and programmes, and develops and catalyses virtual knowledge management communities. It does all this using its own cutting-edge technological platform that allows it to manage and provide training for over 200,000 users around the world.

GEC provides its clients with complete management of training and knowledge, optimising training budgets and ensuring the right balance between classroom training, e-learning and virtual communities.

The company was founded in 1996 and has offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and London, these last two were opened recently as part of an ambitious international expansion plan which aims to have 40% of turnover coming from abroad by 2012. Already in 2009, the company expects 20% of turnover to come from the European market. GEC works in France and the UK for Volkswagen, providing training to the consortium’s 50,000 employees in Europe. Among its over 100 clients, GEC works with companies such as “la Caixa” Group, Caja de Navarra, Caixa Catalunya, Caja España, Caixa Penedès, Banc Sabadell, VW Audi España, Peugeot, Catalana Occidente, Axa Seguros, Caifor, Abertis, Orange, Ono or Vodafone. It is the leading company in the Spanish banking sector.

Vector Capital
Vector Capital is Caixa Penedès’s capital risk company. It was created in August 2007 with the aim to help companies develop ambitious strategic plans. This commitment to companies is even more important now in this period of uncertainty. The third largest Catalan savings bank thus takes a step forward in strengthening its capital risk activities and diversifying its traditional sources of income. Caixa Penedès had net profits of 80 million euros in 2008. Vector Capital also has holdings in Blindados Grupo Norte and Gas Gas Motos.

Suma Capital
Suma Capital is a capital risk management company. Its shareholders are the Banque Degroof’s Privat Bank and the company’s management team. Its headquarters are in Barcelona and it focuses on supporting medium-sized companies in their expansion and globalisation projects. Suma Capital has capital holdings in Mabyc-Ibersegur, the leading car park access and parking meter solution company, which recently acquired the UK’s Alfia, and Auding, the leading Catalan civil engineering company, which has a strong presence in Madrid and an important plan for development in Latin America.