Portugal Telecom S.A. Selects CGI/CASE/IBM To Negotiate
Long Term IS/IT Partnership
MONTREAL, QUEBEC-- MARCH 5, 1999
Portugal Telecom Group announced that it has
selected CGI and two other partners to negotiate the launch of two
companies that will provide it with long term full IS/IT services.
As part of the agreement, CGI, with IBM Global Services and
Portuguese-based IS company Case, will provide Portugal Telecom
Group with full IS/IT services and work with the client to address
the needs of the Portugal market at large. The dollar value of the
potential contract has not been disclosed.
As part of the exclusive negotiations, CGI, its two partners and
Portugal Telecom will seek to agree on the terms of a long-term
contract, possibly extending over 10 years, based on which two
separate companies will be established to provide the client with
full IS/IT services.
The first company will be responsible for applications development
and maintenance and day-to-day management of Portugal Telecom
Group's IS/IT operations. It will be managed jointly by CGI and
Case, with CGI as lead contractor. The second company, managed by
IBM, will have responsibility for the client's data centre
operations. The intent is for the partners to provide seamless
solutions and services to meet Portugal Telecom Group's current
and future needs.
"CGI is pleased that it was selected as a strategic partner of
Portugal Telecom to fulfill this important contract," said Jean
Brassard, CGI's President and Chief Operating Officer. "CGI's
acquisition of Bell Sygma Telecom Solutions and Bell Sygma
International has provided us with the critical mass, as well as
the right combination of IT and telecom expertise, which we are
leveraging to establish ourselves in the European market," he added.
Through this transaction, Portugal Telecom Group aims to further
enhance the efficiency of its IS/IT operations and its ability to
address new business opportunities with small and medium
enterprises and corporations.
Over the next two months, CGI and its partners will conduct due
diligence of Portugal Telecom Group's operations, while entering
into formal negotiations with the aim of signing an agreement by
the end of May 1999.
CGI is the largest independent information technology services
firm in Canada and the sixth largest in North America, based on
its revenue run rate of $1.3 billion. CGI's order backlog totals
$6.7 billion and the company currently has proposals outstanding
for an additional $4 billion in potential large contracts. CGI has
8,000 professionals and provides end-to-end IT services and
business solutions to some 2,000 clients in the United States,
Canada and 20 countries around the world. Its shares are listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (GIB), as well as on the Toronto and
Montreal exchanges (GIB.A). As of March 19, 1999, they will be
included in the Toronto Stock Exchange's TSE 100, and they are
currently part of the TSE 300 Composite and TSE 200 indexes. Web
site: www.cgi.ca
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