EPAM and VDI Announce a Strategic Merger, Further Solidifying EPAM's Leadership of the Central and Eastern Europe Software Outsourcing Industry

19/09/2006 - 15:17

EPAM Systems, Inc. (http://www.epam.com), a leading
global software services company, independently recognized as the #1
IT outsourcing provider in Central and Eastern Europe for the last two
years, and Vested Development, Inc. (http://www.vdiweb.com), one of
the Top 5 Russian Software Outsourcing vendors, have announced a
strategic merger.
The combined company, which will operate under the EPAM Systems
name, will employ over 2,200 software professionals across eight
countries and exceed a $70 million revenue run rate. By combining the
operations of the companies, EPAM becomes stronger in both client
facing and delivery capabilities as well as in senior management
capacity across North America, Europe, and the former Soviet Union
region.
Arkadiy Dobkin, EPAM Chairman, CEO and co-founder, who will
continue leading EPAM's operations, said: "This merger enhances EPAM's
position as the leader in Central and Eastern Europe and allows EPAM
to offer the strongest alternative to the current mainstream
outsourcing destinations. For many years it was anticipated that the
CEE region would provide a sizeable and scalable global player. This
expectation has finally materialized, and we are proud that EPAM leads
this wave. Critical for staff retention in an increasingly global
employment market this will present even broader and larger
professional growth opportunities for our employees."
Anatoly Gaverdovsky, VDI CEO, who will be heading EPAM's
operations in Russia, commented on the agreement: "By combining our
separate but complimentary areas of specialization and by broadening
the geo-diverse talent pools, the merged company will significantly
boost scalability for delivering complex software engineering
projects, enhance expertise in vertical and horizontal solutions, and
grant greater access to the entire regional resource pool for all our
clients worldwide. For example, our office in Boston will compliment
EPAM's client facing capabilities in New Jersey and Minnesota, and
provide additional client and delivery support for one of the most
important IT focus regions in the United States today, while our deep
and highly experienced client facing operation in Moscow will better
position EPAM to apply its expertise accumulated in the US and Europe
to serve the increasing number of multinational companies operating in
Russia and the CIS as well as large Russian corporations."
"Within the Western European markets, EPAM was already established
as the #1 "NearShore" provider, but the addition of VDI's multiple
Russian development locations combined with the new but rapidly
growing Ukrainian operations of both EPAM and VDI, represents not only
the largest resource pool available to European clients, but far and
away the most balanced distribution of resources across CEE
countries," added Karl Robb, Executive VP of EPAM Systems and
President of EPAM's EU business unit. Mr. Robb continued to add: "This
makes EPAM the only company with significant development capacities in
Hungary, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine providing all of our clients with
unmatched access to the best resources across the entire region and
also the most effective risk mitigation against potential localized
inflation, resource shortages or geo-political risks, all of which are
considered critical issues by the largest clients when evaluating
which global vendors to work with."

About EPAM Systems

EPAM Systems is a global provider of software engineering
outsourcing services. In January 2006, for the second consecutive
year, EPAM was named No.1 of Top 5 IT Outsourcing providers in Central
and Eastern Europe on the "Global Services 100" list by
CMP-CyberMedia's Global Services Magazine and neoIT. Founded in 1993,
EPAM maintains North American headquarters in Lawrenceville, NJ, and
European headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, as well as support and
delivery operations in the UK and Germany. EPAM software development
centers are located in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Hungary.
EPAM's customer base includes industry leaders such as Reuters,
London Stock Exchange, Colgate-Palmolive, British Telecom, Empire and
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Schlumberger and Halliburton and
technology leaders such as SAP, Hyperion, BEA Systems and Microsoft.

www.epam.com

About Vested Development Inc.

Vested Development, Inc. (VDI) is a global onsite/offshore
software development services firm with over eleven years experience
in partnering with technology providers like Microsoft, IBM, and
Hummingbird, as well as vertical corporations like Nestle, Mars, and
many others to accelerate software development using ISO
9001-certified process methodologies.
With extensive vertical industry experience, VDI collaborates with
clients to ensure development of quality business solutions. Over 400
highly skilled development resources, located across North America,
Russia, and Ukraine, enable VDI to take full advantage of multiple
time zones to compress delivery cycles and reduce costs while
simultaneously improving quality, flexibility, and time to market.