The prestigious Forbes and Times magazines have just praised CGI, our multinational information technology and management consulting company. Forbes qualifies our Quebec flagship as “one of the best management consulting firms in the world” and Times qualifies it as “one of the best companies in the world.”
“I am very proud of my team!” Serge Godin, the executive chairman of the CGI board, rightly told me. When he talks about his team, he is referring to his 90,250 consultants and other professionals around the world, including 7,500 in Quebec.
And as for us Quebecers, you should know that the phenomenal growth of CGI has royally enriched us through the Caisse de dépôt etplacement. The annual business volume now exceeds 14 billion US dollars, and the net profit is around 1.6 billion US dollars.
- Listen to the economy part with Michel Girard above QUB radio :
The box
To my knowledge, the Caisse’s best investment to date was the $1 billion investment made in the CGI Group in May 2012.
This Caisse investment allowed CGI to get its hands on Logica, a European multinational IT services company specializing in consulting, systems integration and outsourcing.
Founded in 1976 by Serge Godin and André Imbeau, the CGI Group has become a global leader in the sector since that memorable acquisition of Logica.
This investment, under former CEO Michael Sabia, gave the Caisse a package of 46.7 million shares at a price of $21.41 per share. With the 21.4 million shares the Caisse already held in CGI, it brought the total to 68.1 million shares, or 22.2% of the shares outstanding.
In May 2012, this block of 68.1 million CGI was worth $1.46 billion.
Photo from CGI website
Title explosion
Today, CGI shares trade at about $135 apiece, which is 6.3 times the company’s share price 11 and a half years ago. CGI shares therefore appreciated by $16.25 on an annual basis!
Over the years and as the share price rose, the Caisse gradually reduced its CGI share package after the CGI group itself agreed to buy back its shares.
A FORTUNE
The Caisse still made a fortune from its investment in CGI. So far, she has sold a total of $3.47 billion in CGI shares.
Add to that the “on paper” value of the 19,178,365 stocks remaining in his portfolio, which is $2.6 billion.
Thus, the Caisse’s investment in CGI has so far generated a net profit of $4.6 billion, of which $3.5 billion has already been collected and $1.1 billion is attributable to the CGI shares held by the Caisse still has it in his wallet.
CGI’s three key leaders are:
- Serge Godin, founder of CGI and executive chairman;
Photo from CGI website
- Julie Godin, co-chair of the board, executive vice-president, corporate strategic planning and development;
Photo from CGI website
- George D. Schindler, President and CEO.
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