Baechler Informatique x ANSAM serving businesses in Fribourg

As part of its expansion throughout French-speaking Switzerland, ANSAM announces the acquisition of Baechler Informatique, a long-standing Fribourg-based player active since 1989.

This operation, one of the major strategic projects for 2026, marks the Group's arrival in the canton of Fribourg and enriches its offering with a dual expertise: local IT services for SMEs and hardware sales for large organizations.

David Seppey, co-founder and member of ANSAM's management board, tells us more about this acquisition and his vision of proximity.

Why did ANSAM decide to acquire Baechler Informatique?

This acquisition meets two strategic objectives for ANSAM.

Firstly, to establish a strong local presence in the canton of Fribourg. Customers in Fribourg are very attached to local roots, and prefer to work with local service providers. For ANSAM, becoming a major player in Fribourg only made sense through a strong presence that keeps the Fribourg economy moving, jobs and skills in the canton.

Secondly, to strengthen our portfolio with the dual skills of Baechler Informatique. On the one hand, a local service for small businesses and private individuals alike, with high-quality support, sales and advice. On the other, recognized expertise in equipment sales, particularly for public authorities via PAIR contracts, with which the group is already familiar.

What attracted you to Baechler Informatique?

In addition to the local presence, which was a goal in itself, Baechler Informatique's values and corporate culture are very similar to our own: integrity, expertise, quality of service and a strong customer focus. Baechler Informatique has made its mark on the market thanks to their excellent advice on choosing the right equipment. The sale of IT equipment with real added value represents a large part of Baechler Informatique's business. This expertise and the associated business processes constitute a real asset that we will be able to re-use throughout the Group.

How will you manage the transition to reassure customers?

We have opted for a very gradual approach. The company will continue to operate under the Baechler Informatique name until 2026. Integration into ANSAM will only take place gradually.

We are already meeting with Baechler Informatique customers to explain the transition. At first, there's often this fear that the big company will eat up the little one, and then the little one won't exist anymore. But when I tell them that we're going to keep the premises and the team in Fribourg, and that we're going to enrich it, the discussion immediately becomes open and constructive. The message is simple: the teams are staying, the premises are staying, and the portfolio of solutions and skills will grow. Customers immediately see the benefits.

In concrete terms, what does this mean for Baechler Informatique customers?

They will benefit from immediate access to the complete ANSAM portfolio via their Baechler consultants and sales representatives, who will be trained for this purpose. A customer who only needed hardware will now be able to access expertise in complete infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital transformation or artificial intelligence.

And for Baechler Informatique's teams, how will the merger enrich their work?

It's mutually enriching, at every level.

For the sales team, it's an opportunity to offer customers a much broader portfolio. For the technical team, who today mainly work on workstations, it means access to new skills: network, security, data center, data management, digitalization... They'll be able to be coached by our experts and develop in areas they've always wanted to explore.

It's also an enrichment for our existing ANSAM employees. Baechler Informatique possesses valuable skills. It's worth noting that we will also eventually have resources covering the entire portfolio, based in Fribourg.

What synergies do you see between Baechler Informatique and ANSAM?

There are several. On PAIR contracts, Baechler Informatique has recognized expertise, particularly with a manufacturer. At ANSAM, we also bring PAIR expertise but with multi-constructor skills, which is rare on the market and will offer end customers a better choice.

For smaller customers, we will be combining Baechler Informatique's best practices with those of ANSAM to optimize our services for this customer segment. In addition, Baechler Informatique has also been remarkably successful with private customers - an area we at ANSAM are not yet sufficiently familiar with. We intend to use this expertise to offer our services throughout French-speaking Switzerland.

Last but not least, Baechler Informatique has also developed a specialized business with students in difficulty, supplying and configuring the right equipment for their school careers. This is the kind of expertise with a strong social value that fits in with our B Corp commitment and that we absolutely want to preserve and enhance.

What is the main challenge of this integration?

Maintaining the efficiency of Baechler Informatique's processes while integrating the company into a larger structure. With 200+ employees, ANSAM can also learn from the relevance of a smaller structure.

That's why we're not looking to integrate everything in the short term, but to keep the best of each. Baechler Informatique's processes are very similar to those of Idros, ANSAM's entity dedicated to small businesses, so we'll be sharing best practices.

What is your ambition for the canton of Fribourg?

Our ambition is to become the best IT, AI and Security service provider in the whole of French-speaking Switzerland. This acquisition is part of our overall vision to cover French-speaking Switzerland consistently, with the complete ANSAM portfolio available in all regions.

The challenge is to enrich our respective cultures and keep our local roots alive while maintaining overall coherence. But we're not afraid of this challenge, because this is not the first time we've done it, and in fact it's the raison d'être of ANSAM's corporate project, which means "together".

What message would you like to send to companies in Fribourg?

We're building something sustainable in the canton, with and for local companies. Our aim is not just to display a logo in Fribourg, but to create a real presence, with a whole range of functions based locally. It's part of our culture at ANSAM to have a decentralized organization, including offices and resources throughout French-speaking Switzerland.

In short, we're going to be able to serve Fribourg companies with the same relevance, quality and proximity they've enjoyed with Baechler Informatique in recent years, while offering them the wealth of services and solutions that a group like ANSAM can provide.