French IT services giant Cap Gemini is considering a listing on one or other of the big US exchanges (NYSE or Nasdaq) in order to leverage its acquisitions strategy in that market, according to Paul Hermelin, a member of the company’s board of directors. The logic behind this strategy, on which the board has yet to take a final decision, is that Europe represents 80% of Cap’s annual revenues, yet is only 40% of the world market for IT services. While the company is actively seeking acquisitions in the Europe, it also wants to grow in North America, and with IT valuations assuming stellar proportions right now, the logical way to go is a stock swap, which in turn would be made easier with an American listing. We’ve been dormant for a long time in the US. Now we’ve got 4,000 people there [out of a total of 31,000 worldwide] and we’re growing at 30% per annum, but we’re still only somewhere between 12th and 15th in that market, so we need to make some acquisitions, said Hermelin.
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