A is for Atos, B is for bank

“Big deal,” you might say, and you’d be right.

Atos Origin, a leading international information technology services company, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Belgium’s Banksys and Bank Card Company. Through the acquisition of Banksys and BCC by Atos Origin through subsidiary Atos Worldline, Atos hopes to creates an entity with “a strong expertise in the European payment market” and represents “a critical milestone in the accelerating consolidation of the European landscape in payment services.”

The combined activities of the firms will trade as Atos Worldline, an Atos Origin company dedicated to electronic payment services, Customer Relationship Management and e-services.

The combined payment services company represents combined pro forma 2006 revenues of €630 million (approximately $839 million) and will employ 4,200 in Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.