Sopra Steria enters exclusive negotiations to acquire CS Group
Create ” a leading contractor for digital services and critical systems in sensitive areas »and ” especially nuclear ». This is the aim of the exclusive negotiations announced this Thursday by Sopra Steria to acquire the majority of the shares of CS Group, a public company specialized in defense, aeronautics and energy systems. A company that the CS Group values at 282.5 million euros, according to a press release.
Specifically, Sopra Steria, a French IT services group that already owns 9.8% of its target company, would like to initially increase its stake to 75% by acquiring the shares of the management team, the companies CIRA Holding and the founders of the cybersecurity Service provider Novidy’s (acquired in 2018) who have agreed to purchase agreements. The company then intends to submit a draft simplified tender offer to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers in Q1 2023 at a price of €11.5 per share (ie a premium of 75% over the last valuation month), she said.
answer to ” major challenges to security and sovereignty »
” The Boards of Directors of Sopra Steria Group and CS Group have unanimously welcomed this transaction after prior consultation »assures the press release. ” This merger with Sopra Steria would represent a tremendous lever to accelerate our development strategy and thus allow us to reinforce the objectives of our Vision 2024 plan thanks to the synergies identified. », Welcomes Eric Blanc-Garin, CEO of CS Group, who is quoted in the press release and adds: ” Sopra Steria’s scale and augmentation of additional capabilities combined with CS Group’s DNA of creativity and innovation would open new strategic and commercial capabilities and perspectives to effectively address the grand challenges of security and sovereignty.”. The merger between Sopra Steria and CS Group ” would position us very favorably in vertical markets whose growth prospects for the coming years are very important given the geopolitical and energy situation in which we find ourselves »commented, for his part, the manager of Sopra Steria, Cyril Malargé.
Sopra Steria intends to rely on CS Group technologies (anti-drone warfare, combat training system, tactical data management, maritime surveillance, geospatial information and image processing) to strengthen its portfolio of solutions for armed forces in Europe and the protection of sensitive data sites such as nuclear power plants or new means of communication, especially in space. Completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals in France and abroad.
Increase in sales at Sopra Steria
At the same time, Sopra Steria announced good results on Thursday, as the group recorded a 9.3% increase in sales to 2.5 billion euros in the first half of the year and a net profit of 112 million euros (+32% over one year). ” In a tense geopolitical and economic environment, the dynamics of our markets and the demand from our customers remained strong without any significant changes occurring at this point in time. We have benefited from our significant exposure to the aerospace and defense vertical markets »according to Cyril Malargé.
(with AFP)
