Sema Group Plc said Tuesday that its negotiations with CEA-Industrie subsidiary Cisi SA involve the acquisition of 100% of Cisi’s share capital, but exclude its Spanish subsidiary. Chief executive Pierre Bonelli told Computergram that the deal was far from being concluded. The acquisition, which Sema says it will finance from its own resources, is contingent on the satisfactory completion of due diligence, approval of the French privatisation committee and a reorganisation of the $190m a year company’s activities. Without committing to a date, Bonelli said that, short of any bad surprises, the work should be completed before the end of the year. It’s a big company, this takes time, he said. Sema is not interested in Cisi’s Spanish group because they are concentrated on software products, the chief executive said, adding that we got out of that and we’re not getting back in to it. Sema said that the Atomic Energy Commission was expected to remain an major Cisi customer, contributing some 20% of revenues. Sema and Atomic Commission are also negotiating the establishment of a joint venture in the space, defence and facilities management areas, which would be set up only if the acquisition goes through, Bonelli said. We have great synergy with Cisi, especially in the areas of space and defence. There is also their facilities management activity, but the first two were our principal motivations, Bonelli declared.
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