Novartis names outsourcing winners
The life sciences group, Novartis, has selected the French utilities company, Vivendi Environnement and Johnson Controls of the United States for two big outsourcing contracts.
The announcement on Tuesday means the Swiss-Swedish engineering concern, ABB, lost out to Johnson in the race for the facility management and technical services contract. Vivendi is to run the energy supply and waste disposal division.
Novartis did not give any financial details of the seven-year deals that are to be concluded by the end of the year. But Vivendi said its contract was worth Sfr1.37 billion ($768 million) and would take effect at the beginning of 2001.
It covers waste management and energy production and distribution at four Novartis sites in Switzerland at Klybeck, Rosental, St Johann and Schweizerhalle.
Both deals involve the creation of joint ventures in which Novartis will hold minority stakes for two years.
The company’s energy supply and waste disposal service employs 209 people while facility management and technical services has a payroll of 960. All employees are to be taken on by the new joint ventures.
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