Created in 1995 and based near Amsterdam, Search And Solve is a consulting and business engineering company with 12 employees, specialising in business intelligence, data quality, data mining and performance management. In 2002, Search And Solve's turnover was EUR 1.29M and EBITDA EUR 0.04M.

"This acquisition provides the Group with entry into a market with interesting commercial opportunities, notably in the financial sector. It also represents the first step in our development in the Netherlands" said Patrick Bensabat, Chairman of Business & Decision.

Benefiting from a strong expertise in SAS technologies and Business Objects (two of the major software solutions in Business Intelligence), Search And Solve has a strong reputation in the financial sector. The company developed a Cash Intelligence solution enabling banks to optimise the amount of cash money for loading into ATMs.

Search And Solve's clients include ABN-AMRO Bank, AGIS (health-insurance), De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank), ING Group (ING Bank, Nationale Nederlanden, Postbank), The Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality, PGGM (the pension fund for the healthcare and social work sector).

Business & Decision have purchased the commercial activities of Search And Solve and will integrate these with the activities of Business & Decision Benelux (headquartered in Brussels). Search And Solve activities will be transferred to Business & Decision Netherlands BV.

Business & Decision initially entered the Benelux market in 2001, with the acquisition of the Belgian firm Flux Consultancy. This was ultimately merged with SPSInfoquest Belgium (a company purchased in 2002), to create Business & Decision Benelux. Today this subsidiary has approximately 50 consultants and some important reference clients, including Atlas Copco, Fortis, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Sony, Toyota, etc.

About Business & Decision - www.businessdecision.com

Founded in 1992, Business & Decision is an International consulting and Systems Integration company specializing in Business Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and E-Business. The Group works with clients to implement systems that aim at driving business functions and performance (dashboards, reporting, consolidation etc.); help in customer relationship management (sales force automation, call centers, campaign management, analytical CRM); and assist in E-Business (intranet and extranet portals, directories and Meta directories, e-commerce, knowledge management, Open source technologies, etc.). With more than 2,800 employees worldwide, Business & Decision has developed a "complete project" approach that spans from consulting to implementation. The Group has a reputation for its functional and technological expertise and has forged partnerships with all of the key technology vendors. At present, Business & Decision has more than 1,200 clients.

Business & Decision has been listed on the Euronext Paris since February 2001 (compartment B / Isin code: FR 00000 7895 8 / Symbol:  BND). Business & Decision is listed in the NextEconomy segment and in the IT-Cac (technology market). For more information, visit: http://www.businessdecision.com/

Press Contact at Business & Decision
Investor relations

Pauline Cieutat - pauline.cieutat@businessdecision.com

Tel: +33 1 56 21 21 20
Fax: +33 1 56 21 21 22