Montreal-based CGI Group Inc. has said it had agreed to buy Anglo-Dutch IT services company Logica for £1.7 billion (US$2.64-billion) in a deal to secure more business with blue-chip clients globally.

CGI said Logica shareholders would get 105 pence in cash for each share, a 60% premium to Wednesday’s closing share price. Logica said global consolidation in IT services meant there was a strong logic to the tie-up, a view bolstered by the economic uncertainty in its main European markets. Logica’s board and the holders of some 18.2% of the company’s capital supported the offer, CGI said.

Source: Globe and Mail