The Corporate team from Burges Salmon is advising listed software developer and IT services provider SCISYS on the recommended £78.9 million cash offer made by Canadian-headquartered IT giant CGI Inc.
The offer, which has been unanimously recommended by the SCISYS Board of Directors, remains subject to anti-trust and regulatory clearances and is expected to complete in the second half of 2019. It follows the successful project last year (on which Burges Salmon also advised) which introduced an Irish parent company, quoted both on AIM and Euronext Dublin. That complex transaction was undertaken to facilitate – post Brexit - SCISYS’ continued participation in projects (such as the Galileo satellite navigation programme) funded by the European Space Agency and other EU agencies. Read the full case study here.
The Burges Salmon team, led by Corporate partner Rupert Weston, is advising SCISYS alongside Mason Hayes and Curran (led by Justin McKenna and David Mangan). The offer is subject to the Irish Takeover Rules and is being implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement, requiring the sanction of the Irish High Court.
Rupert Weston comments: “Our relationship with SCISYS is a long-standing one and we are delighted to be advising (alongside Mason Hayes and Curran) on the CGI offer.”
Mike Love, Chairman of SCISYS, concludes: “The Board of SCISYS is unanimously recommending this deal to shareholders, viewing it as a wholesale endorsement of the success SCISYS has achieved to date. We believe SCISYS and CGI are highly complementary businesses sharing similar values and are confident that the combination will enable SCISYS to benefit from CGI's size, strength and global reach.”