Press Release
Sharp rise in the take-up rate
for the June employee share offer at Cegelec
Paris, 8 July 2009
The latest employee share offer launched by Cegelec, an international group providing technological services to companies and public authorities, was a resounding success. Some 7,000 employees purchased shares through the corporate mutual fund (FCPE), 2,500 more than for the 2007 offer, and the total amount invested was 25% higher. Including the company’s matching contribution, over 12 million euros was placed in the fund this time around.
Some 23,000 of the Group’s 25,000 employees were eligible to take part in the offer, which took place in June in 13 countries worldwide.
The Group’s total contribution was higher this year and steps were taken to make it easier for employees with lower financial means to take part by calculating individual contributions at a declining rate on successive investment tranches and offering advances to finance the share purchases.
Many employee share ownership plans have been hit by the collapse in the share price of the companies concerned over the last two years. Cegelec, however, is not listed on the stock exchange and the fund’s gross yield averaged 35% a year in the period from its creation in 2002 until Cegelec’s sale to Qatari Diar, a subsidiary of the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, in October 2008.
Following this latest share offer, the fund now has some 10,000 unit holders representing around 40% of the Group’s workforce.
In addition to employees who have taken part in the four share offers carried out since the Group was formed, some 200 managers hold Cegelec shares directly and 1,500 executives hold stock options. In all, employees own approximately 17% of Cegelec’s capital with an option to rise to 20%.
