Sysco + Cegal = the perfect match
“It was no coincidence that Cegal and Sysco merged into one company. On the contrary, Cegal was the dream partner,” says Dagfinn Ringaas, who led Sysco until the merger with Cegal.
In autumn 2021, it became known that the owners of the oil and gas tech company Cegal wanted to buy the hydropower and utilities tech company Sysco. In the Norwegian podcast Teknologioptimistene [The Tech Optimists], Cegal CEO Dagfinn Ringaas tells about why exactly these two technology companies came together and what the merger has led to.
Dagfinn Ringaas, former CEO at SYSCO, now CEO at Cegal, underlines that Cegal was the dream partner amongst many suitors.
We were very clear to both the owners and the board that we wanted to join Cegal
Dagfinn Ringaas, Cegal
"We saw a huge potential in merging the companies. Although formally it was Cegal that bought Sysco, in practice, it was a merger between equal companies," says Dagfinn Ringaas. Today he is CEO of Cegal. Until the acquisition, he was the CEO of Sysco.
Sysco had many suitors
He tells Teknologioptimistene that there was a lot of interest in Sysco from several different investors and businesses that wanted to buy the company. He explains why it was the smartest to team up with Cegal: “Cegal and Sysco did the same thing at opposite ends of the energy industry. Cegal dealt with software, consulting services and operations for oil and gas companies. Sysco was engaged in software, consulting services and operations for hydropower and network companies. Today these are not two different industries, but they are in the process of merging into one industry.”
Ringaas adds: ”Sysco had a powerful muscle on the consulting side, while Cegal had the weight on cloud operation. The companies, therefore, complemented each other well. With the merger, we would create the best technology company for the entire energy industry.”
“What is the new Cegal?” asks Chul Christian Aamodt in Teknologioptimistene.
Ringaas answers: “We are a technology company that wants to help our customers turn complex IT into digital success. We work with exciting bleeding-edge technologies, and we will contribute to the green shift the energy industry faces. We focus on three areas:
We want to build one of the world's best technology companies for the energy industry
Dagfinn Ringaas, Cegal
Turn complex IT into digital success
Ringaas elaborates on his answer and says that Cegal wants to help all the IT directors who say that the complexity around IT has become much greater with more pressure from owners, boards and politicians that technology and IT solutions should provide business benefits.
But the soup of solutions: old systems, new systems, cloud, hybrid, multi-cloud - one can go crazy with this complexity
Dagfinn Ringaas, Cegal
The Cegal CEO adds: “This is where Cegal comes in. We wan to reduce IT complexity. We help with IT infrastructure so that it just works and is secure. We help customers make technologies play together. No one has just one platform. We help make data available so that data becomes insight. And we help create light-footed software solutions, not mammoth solutions, but an app for production planning, energy dispatching, or seismic analysis to find mounts for wind turbines on the seabed.”
“What was it like to merge the companies in the middle of the pandemic? To merge two organisations, two systems, two cultures when you couldn't meet physically?” Chul Aamodt asks.
Ringaas answers: “It went surprisingly well. We merged these companies in record time, I think. We experienced a tremendous desire and energy to join forces because the rationale for the merger was so strong. We had 7 to 8 parallel work streams in the run-up to Christmas 2021 and got out of the starting block on January the first of 2022. We managed to increase employee satisfaction in both companies while we merged. And under the process, we didn't lose more people than is usual, Ringaas replies.
Chul Aamindt asks: “How was it to change the name from Sysco to Cegal?”
Ringaas replies: “It's strange about names. It is often where there is the most emotion, but the name really means little. If you ask our customers if they care what our name is, they will say that it is not important. At the same time, changing names creates so much emotion internally. The Cegal name is clear, short, concise, and works well in all countries. The Sysco name worked pretty poorly remotely. We were mixed up with the network manufacturer Cisco, and in the US, there is a large food wholesaler called Sysco. Cegal had a good and established name, while Sysco had a good profile. We took the best from both and kept the Cegal name and Sysco's design and profile.”
Today, Cegal has close to a thousand employees and has offices in 15-16 cities in eight countries. Cegal has become a global company. Cegal was owned by Norvestor. Sysco was owned by Credo Partners with Ferd as the largest owner. The major investors are involved in the new company with Norvestor as the largest owner. Approximately 400 employees are also co-owners.
Read the blog post: SYSCO and Cegal are joining forces to create a leading, global tech company for the energy sector >
Read the blog post: With a new name and brand Cegal will play a key role in the green transition >
