back to article CGI Group beds Logica in £1.7bn cash deal

Anglo-Dutch tech group Logica is being scooped up by Canada's CGI Group in a £1.7bn cash deal. The acquisition, expected to complete in September this year, was agreed by the European wing of IT outsourcing company CGI. Shares in Reading-headquartered Logica rocketed more than 60 per cent following the news, with an opening …

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Meh.

    Same monkeys, different trees.

  3. Is it me?

    Who'll come out of the woodwork.

    I wonder who else will bid, if anyone, BT, BAE, Tata, Mastek, or perhaps they'll go for the enlarged group when it starts to fail.

    CGI won't frighten Logica's more delicate clients though. Pity, the last genuinely British SI of any size.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not surprised.

    Left the company 6 months ago – Logica has been circling the drain for a couple of years.

    A lot of their business is in Europe – which is a really good area to be exposed to at the moment!

    Rest of their business is government IT projects – which the coalition is slashing left, right and centre.

    Jumped ship due to the bleak business outlook, and the way Logica treats its staff:

    – No pay rises ever.

    - No training.

    - No promotion prospects.

    - Used to have flexitime but had it cancelled as “the project requires it”.

    - Managers would not let people take holidays they wanted most of the time: “to maintain a minimum staffing level at all times” – I.E sitting in the office playing quake on xmas eve due to the off chance that the phone might ring.

    - The last round of redundancies were announced on December 22nd last year, as part of a “news management” strategy – A.K.A putting bad news out a few days before Xmas so it does not get reported widely in the media. Never mind that everyone’s Xmas would be overshadowed by the fact that the New Year might involve a P45.

    Logica is a company that has utter contempt for its staff.

    Well out of it and very happy!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Significant Investments Made in Sales and Marketing? Hmm!

    Logica is, first and foremost, a great technology company. Speaking from experience, I can say that Logica engineers are excellent. They can craft innovative solutions to complex problems with skill and creativity - albeit with a tendency for (expensive) over-engineering. Logica's problem, is the the leadership team which is highly parochial and generally weak. During this period of difficult business conditions, leaders (particularly the senior leaders) have been flailing around trying to get a grip on what to do. In general, their strategy has been to blame the workers for not getting it right on countless occasions. While it's a shame that Logica will no longer be a British SI, it's good that the company will survive in some form. I have no doubt that CGI will eliminuate 95% (and it should be 100%) of the leadership team, and this is what is so desperately needed. If the Board had done this two years ago, Logica would still be a British company.

  6. PeterM42
    Pirate

    Hear! Hear!

    As someone who got TUPE'd OUT of Logica when they lost (yet another) contract on price, I have to agree that it will be good news if CGI dump all the useless management and keep the good guys (if there are any left!).

    Logica has been circling the drain for a lot more than a couple of years and it's time they finally "disappeared down the plughole".

    Good luck to any WORKERS who survive - maybe they might actually get a pay rise one day under the new management.

    Not sure of CGI's logic in buying the company - perhaps they want to get their mitts on the offshore operation?

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