The NRB Group continues to expand, confirming its position as a major player in the ICT sector in Belgium. Cevi, its subsidiary responsible for local public services in Flanders, has officially acquired AbiWare, one of its very first partners.
This union, which became official on 1 January 2023, sounds obvious. AbiWare has been collaborating with Cevi for over twenty years in accounting integration and payroll processing. The two companies have common clients and similar technologies.
Cevi’s know-how is well established. Founded in 1971, the company underwent a strategic turnaround at the start of the millennium when it entered the ADINFO holding. The NRB Group is the main shareholder, along with Logins and Civadis. Today, Cevi is an important player in the Dutch-speaking IT market, specialised in the development of IT systems for public authorities and private companies. It also offers training, analysis, consulting and auditing solutions.
AbiWare develops software for emergency services. Based in Westerlo, the company takes pride in developing user-friendly software that can be developed to suit future technologies and clients’ needs. The company serves renowned clients, such as:
- public and private firefighting services, with software for administrative support, document management and intervention follow-up;
- ambulance services, with a solution for transport registration, invoicing and the follow-up of official reports.
Since 1 January 2023, AbiWare has been led by Bert De Keyser, assisted by Pol Van Cleemput. Together with Jan Deprest and Christoph Verheecke, members of the Cevi management, they will continue the strategic development of software and services for emergency services. “The integration of Cevi and AbiWare offers numerous opportunities to better serve the existing clientele. Cross-pollination will ensure that potentially new markets become accessible,” says Bert De Keyser.
The acquisition of AbiWare enables the NRB Group to continue its growth in a competitive public market that is becoming increasingly complicated as a result of the numerous fusions of municipalities. The group and the company will now be able to create synergies among their common clients.
This acquisition is also in line with the growth policy of the NRB Group, which aims to achieve a turnover of € 750 million by 2026, in particular through the acquisition of new subsidiaries and the development of growth markets such as biotechnology and industry.
