Elliott challenged Capgemini CEO to bid on Altran bid

Elliott challenged Capgemini CEO to bid on Altran bid

Capgemini maintains at 14 euros per share the amount of its bid for its French competitor Altran, told Reuters the CEO of the European giant of computer services. Despite requests from the activist fund Elliott for a more generous proposal.

Manufacturers are increasing investments to move from the pilot project to the smart factory. According to a study conducted by Capgemini, entitled ” smart factory @ scale ” and published on November 12, industrials are investing more and more in the smart factory and this while their proofs of concept succeed little. Only 14% of managers surveyed (*) believe that their initiatives are successful and nearly 60% say they have difficulty scaling them up.

Altran undervalued according to Elliott

But the American fund activist Elliott, who made himself known in France by taking a stake in the group of wines and spirits Pernod Ricard , has since burst in July to the capital of Capgemini which he holds the equivalent of 10 , 25% of capital via equity swaps. In a statement to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, he said that the friendly takeover bid unveiled by Capgemini in June underestimated Altran, a French specialist in engineering services and research and development.

In an interview with Reuters, however, Capgemini CEO Paul Hermelin said he was confident in the ability of his group to convince a majority of shareholders to bring their shares to the offer at an initial price of € 14 per share. “It will not change,” Paul Hermelin assured in the group’s Paris office. “I read the third quarter of Altran, I have not seen anything that pushes me to take the course”.

Create a French leader in engineering and R & D

The friendly takeover bid announced on June 24, for a total amount of 3.6 billion euros, marks the meeting of two companies with complementary expertise and would allow Capgemini to position itself as a shareholder. major digital manufacturing. Finalized by the end of 2020, the merger of the two companies – which show identical margins and growth – should create a leading entity in engineering and R & D, with an estimate of 3.4 billion euros in revenue .