Carlsberg A/S : Zalaris ASA acquires sumarum AG (previously IT2 Solutions AG) - a leading HR outsourcing and consulting company in Germany

Zalaris ASA (OSE: ZAL) has agreed to acquire sumarum AG, a leading 
human resources outsourcing and consulting company based in Germany. 

The deal joins two leading SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) and 
SuccessFactors partners, creating an outsourcing and consulting 
powerhouse delivering a complete suite of payroll and HCM services 
covering the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Germany, Austria, 
Switzerland, Spain and India.

'The combination of Zalaris and sumarum represents a perfect match 
between two companies that are leaders in technology and their 
respective regional markets', says CEO and founder Hans-Petter 
Mellerud of Zalaris. 'We look forward to providing German language 
support and launching additional products and services that create 
exceptional value for all our clients.'

Increased European footprint delivers additional customer value
In addition to strong consulting operations, sumarum specializes in 
successfully executing large SAP HCM projects. Together, the two 
companies will change the outsourcing landscape through increased 
solutions development and outsourcing expertise across a wide 
European reach.

The combined business will continue to serve private and public 
enterprises with the same, high-level SAP HCM and SuccessFactors 
cloud-based outsourcing and consulting services currently provided 
by each company.

The acquisition gives Zalaris immediate access into Germany, 
Europe's largest economy with more than 80 million people and a high 
concentration of medium and large international companies. 

'This is a significant milestone for Zalaris, providing us with a 
strong foothold in the center of the European SAP and 
SuccessFactors-based outsourcing and consulting market,' Mellerud 
continues. 'Both companies are similar in their makeup and 
leadership positions, and this strategic investment emphatically 
drives our business forward into the future.'

Zalaris group including sumarum will employ around 650 employees in 
the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Germany, Spain and India.

'Teaming up with Zalaris gives us a unique opportunity to expand our 
reach to international clients, while continuing to deliver quality 
outsourcing and consulting services to our existing clients,' says 
Harald Goetsch, CEO and founder of sumarum. Goetsch will continue 
working for the company along with the rest of the current sumarum 
management team.

Extensive customer benefits across borders
Zalaris and sumarum both develop and deliver cloud-based outsourcing 
and consulting HR solutions leveraging SAP technologies. Once the 
acquisition has closed, Zalaris expects to deliver additional value 
to customers and accelerate the development of new and improved 
outsourcing and consulting services. 

'Together, we will create more innovative, cost-efficient, user-
friendly and reliable HR solutions that support our customers' 
goals. Our extended reach with local-language support across borders 
in Europe should be of particular interest for our multi-national 
customers,' says Mellerud.

Zalaris and sumarum customers will have access to the same 
comprehensive portfolio of cloud-based HR services, including state-
of-the-art mobile applications and SAP SuccessFactors integration 
and consulting competencies.

'Our solutions were designed to be scalable. We can offer all the 
benefits of leading SAP SuccessFactors HR and payroll solutions as a 
standardized solution with an attractive entry point in a flexible 
structure. Also, all our solutions are compliant with the European 
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is currently 
underway,' Mellerud says.

The broader geographic reach afforded by the acquisition also 
presents employee recruitment advantages for people-oriented 
businesses like Zalaris and sumarum.

'With operations in 13 countries, we will be an attractive employer 
for resources looking for international opportunities in the rapidly 
growing HR outsourcing and consulting industry across Europe,' 
Mellerud says.

Please see the enclosure to this release for more detailed 
information in accordance with the requirements set out in Section 
3.4 of the Continuing Obligations for companies listed on the Oslo 
Stock Exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements set forth 
in Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Please contact:
Hans-Petter Mellerud, Zalaris ASA, CEO and founder
Tel: [phone] 
[e-mail]

Harald Goetsch, sumarum AG, CEO and founder
Tel: M 0151-16128811 
[e-mail]

About Zalaris
Zalaris delivers comprehensive cloud-based outsourced HR and 
payroll, as well as consulting services based on SAP HCM and 
SuccessFactors. The company is certified as a SAP and SuccessFactors 
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Partner and is a leading SAP 
Human Capital Management (HCM) and SuccessFactors consulting 
partner. Founded in 2000, Zalaris today operates in Denmark, 
Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, 
Spain and Sweden, including local-language service centers with 
extensive expertise in HR-related laws and regulations. Zalaris 
(ZAL) is a publicly listed company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Learn 
more at www.zalaris.com.

About sumarum
sumarum offers a full range for employee services, and is a 
specialist on the use of and introduction of software to SAP HCM and 
SucessFactors systems. sumarum, formerly known as IT2 Solutions, is 
one of the largest owner-controlled consulting and outsourcing 
services firms in Germany and was founded in 2001.The company 
focuses as a one-stop-shop services provider for all relevant back-
office processes of its clients (e.g., accounting, HCM, analytics, 
etc.). Today, the company has six locations in Germany, and all 
specialize in different areas of the sumarum portfolio. sumarum has 
a broad spectrum of customers within public services, service 
providers, large industry players, energy companies and companies 
and trusts within the healthcare sector. In April 2017, the company 
was renamed sumarum and today has about 180 employees.