More news15 December 2005
Global beauty and fragrance firm Coty has outsourced its purchasing function to IBM in a five-year contract.
IBM will provide purchasing expertise for the firm, whose brands include Calvin Klein, Rimmel and Adidas, across North America and Europe.
Coty has annual net sales of almost $3 billion and the move is part of its "spiral of success" efficiency programme.
The deal will apply to business services, travel, facilities management, technology and telecoms, marketing and logistics. IBM's procure-to-pay tool will be integrated into Coty's own systems.
Coty hopes the deal will deliver significant savings and free up capital to reinvest in existing brands and acquisitions. Coty has not revealed the expected savings.
The contract will cover the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Irish Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Monaco, US and Canada.
SMdec2005