CS Communications and Systems, the Paris-based IT services and telecom equipment vendor, will next year take full control of CISI the loss-making French computer software and services company, with the purchase of Cap Gemini SA’s 36% stake. CISI, formerly the services arm of the French atomic energy authority, has been jointly owned by Cap Gemini and the CS Group since February 1997 when the CS Group (then known as La Compagnie des Signaux) acquired 64% of CISI from the government (CI No 3,120). Cap Gemini had been trying to sell its 36% holding since 1996 (CI No 2,853). Khaled Draz, MD of CS Systems Integration, said that CS would take full control of CISI in 1999 although it had begun integrating it fully with the CS Group’s other services units, Experadata, Rand and AID, in 1998. The CS Group is split into three divisions: telecom equipment, which accounts for 25% of sales; technical systems and business information systems, which make up 65% of sales; and security, which accounts for 10% of sales. The CS Group’s technical and business services division has been split into CISI, Systems Integration and Road Management. CISI specializes in scientific computing, real-time information systems and command and control systems and operates in France, Germany and Italy, and the UK through Rand Information Systems Ltd. SI operates in four main markets, defense, telecommunications, air traffic control and call centers.
