Setting itself up to enter the deregulating European energymarket, Altra Energy Technologies Inc. announced that Sema Group,an international information technology (IT) and business servicescompany, has agreed to be Altra’s exclusive European distributor.

Under the agreement, Sema Group will provide core systemsintegration skills and support for Altra’s products. Sema Group isactive in power trading, and its own product line is used by theAmsterdam Power Exchange and Spanish Electricity Pool.

Altra said it hopes to tap the sharp rise in demand for energytrading software, which has followed EU legislation that introducedcompetition into the European gas and electricity supplymarketplaces. The legislation passed last November.

“Sema Group will provide Altra optimum representation throughoutEurope,” said Paul Bourke, president and CEO of Altra. “With SemaGroup providing both pre- and post-sales and post-installationsupport in local languages, we will have every opportunity to meeta variety of customer needs.”

Expansion has been at the top of Altra Energy Technologies’ listthis year. It began its buying spree with the January acquisitionof Quicktrade, its main competitor in the electronic tradingplatform market, and formed the combined Altrade. Altra also boughta large risk management software producer, Energy Imperium, lastMarch and another competitor, TransEnergy Management, in lateJune. (See Daily GPI, June 29, 1999)

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