PARIS, FRANCE: Sopra Steria, a European tech leader, has signed an settlement to acquiring 29.73% shares of CS Group on the price of €11.50 per share.
These shares are held by the company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Yazid Sebag, Chief Executive Officer Eric Blanc-Garin, and their joint holding firm Duna & Cie, comprising round 29.73% of CS Group’s share capital.
This settlement was entered into following the launch of unique negotiations introduced on 28 July 2022 and procedures for informing and consulting with Sopra Steria’s and CS Group’s respective worker consultant bodies.
It builds on the commitments already made to Sopra Steria by Cira Holding and the founders of Novidy’s on 27 July 2022 to promote stakes comprising roughly 29.15% and 6.38%, respectively, of the company’s share capital (the “other blocks”) on the identical per-share price as for the main block. Following the acquisition of the main block and the opposite blocks (the “transaction”), and given the 9.80% stake already held, Sopra Steria will maintain 75.06% of CS Group’s share capital.
The transaction, which is anticipated to shut within the primary quarter of 2023, stays topic to the customary conditions precedent, particularly with regard to merger management and approval of foreign investments.
Following the switch of the main block and the opposite blocks, Sopra Steria will file a draft simplified public tender offer (OPA simplifiée) for the remainder of the share capital and securities that confer equity rights or voting rights in CS Group on the identical price of €11.50 per ordinary share (the “offer”).
If the threshold enabling the completion of a compulsory delisting is reached on the finish of the offer period, Sopra Steria intends to request the implementation of a compulsory delisting process for CS Group securities under the conditions required by the relevant regulations.
Sopra Steria has additionally specified that on 27 July 2022 CS Group’s Board of Directors, on the advice of an advert hoc committee arrange for this purpose, voted to nominate Finexsi, represented by Olivier Peronnet, because the independent appraiser accountable for drawing up a report on the monetary conditions of the offer and potential mandatory delisting, and to current its findings within the type of a equity opinion.
CS Group’s Board of Directors will issue its opinion on whether or not the offer is in its best pursuits and its penalties for CS Group, its shareholders and its employees, particularly in light of the findings of the independent appraiser’s report.
Sopra Steria, a European tech chief famend for its consulting, digital services and software program development, helps its clients drive their digital transformation and obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. It provides end-to-end options to make large companies and organisations extra aggressive by combining in-depth knowledge of a variety of enterprise sectors and innovative applied sciences with a fully collaborative approach.
Sopra Steria locations people on the coronary heart of everything it does and is dedicated to creating the most of digital technology to construct a positive future for its clients. With 47,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, the Group generated income of €4.7 billion in 2021.