CGI announced an all-cash tender offer of SEK 41.45 per share to acquire through its wholly owned subsidiary CGI Nordic Holdings Limited, all outstanding shares of Acando (the "Offer"). Acando's consultants combine deep technical expertise with human behavioural insights to help clients maximise the power of technology to achieve their business goals.
Acando's Board of Directors is unanimously recommending that its shareholders accept CGI's Offer, which represents a total price of SEK 4,320 million for all outstanding shares in Acando, including the assumption of SEK 93 million in net debt corresponding to approximately C$ 614.7 million. The company currently trades under the symbol ACAN B on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. The tender offer is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by the relevant regulatory authorities, such as competition authorities and CGI gaining control of more than 90% of the outstanding shares of Acando. CGI Nordic has immediately prior to the announcement of the Offer entered into share purchase agreements with Svedulf Fastighets AB, Bjursund Invest AB and Svolder AB, to acquire in total 23,580,490 shares in Acando at a price of SEK 41.45 per share. The acquisition of 10,421,558 of the above-mentioned shares (class B shares) is being completed immediately. The acquisition of the remaining 13,158,932 of the above-mentioned shares (3,639,990 class A shares and 9,518,942 class B shares) will be completed upon approval by German competition law authorities, which is expected to be obtained no later than around one month after the date of announcement of the Offer.
The transaction is expected to close in Q3 F2019.
Stockholm-based Acando would add more than 2,100 highly skilled professionals to CGI from five countries across the region, notably in the major metro markets of Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and Hamburg, Germany. With robust strategic consulting, system integration, and customer-centric digital innovation capabilities, Acando will complement CGI's global footprint and expertise across key commercial sectors such as manufacturing and retail as well as government. For calendar 2018, Acando reported revenue of SEK 2,826 million(approximately C$402 million).
"CGI's offer to merge with Acando is aligned to the metro-market based element of our acquisition strategy," said George D. Schindler, CGI President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our continued investment in CGI's proximity model is more relevant than ever as clients continue consolidating their partners to a fewer number of trusted ones who have the capabilities, scale, and quality delivery necessary to help drive growth and achieve efficiencies. In fact, client demand for end-to-end services, from consulting and intellectual property-based solutions to outsourcing, continues to accelerate as technology becomes core to our clients' operations."
"We look forward to welcoming Acando professionals to CGI as member-owners, sharing and collaborating as highly skilled innovators who are focused on delivering value to clients," said Heikki Nikku, CGI President of Northern Europe operations. "By combining CGI's exceptionally strong position in data-driven digital business and IT transformation practice with Acando's business consulting and human-centric digital innovation approach, we strengthen our unique blend of skills and capabilities for the benefit of our clients as we pursue profitable future growth together."
"Acando has developed an innovative culture built on technical excellence and insights on human behaviour," said Acando CEO, Carl-Magnus Månsson. "Combining Acando's talents with CGI's will positively impact our clients while offering our employees significant growth opportunities."
Sourced from Market Insider