French group opens first service center in Romania

French group ALTEN, which carries out engineering and development projects for major industrial and telecom customers, will open its first service center in Romania next week, reports local Profit.ro. The center will be located in Iasi and will hire over 160 people, most of whom IT experts and engineers. “Creating the ALTEN center in Iasi is part of the global strategy to create a large platform of nearshore and offshore engineering centers,'' according to the group’s management. The French group recorded a turnover of about EUR 6.1 million in Romania in 2015, up 34.1% over the previous year. Its net profit doubled to about EUR 700,000. The local subsidiary was set up in Bucharest in 2006. It now has offices in Bucharest, Timisoara, Sibiu and Iasi. The company provides consultancy in software or web development, business analysis, business intelligence, or project management. The group, which is listed on the Paris bourse, reported a global turnover of EUR 1.6 billion last year, up from EUR 1.54 billion in 2015. In November last year, ALTEN took over the local software producer Kepler-Rominfo, with a turnover of almost EUR 8 million in 2015. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: ALTEN Romania on Facebook)