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Schlumberger strikes deal
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February 12, 2001: 10:58 a.m. ET
U.S. oilfield services firm buys IT consultant Sema for $5.3 billion in cash
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LONDON (CNN) - U.S. oilfield services company Schlumberger agreed on Monday to buy struggling IT consultant Sema for £3.6 Billion ($5.3 billion) in cash.
Schlumberger (SLB: Research, Estimates), which has a growing smart-card business, offered 560 pence a share to Sema shareholders, an 18 percent premium to Friday's closing price.
Schlumberger is expanding its computer services division to provide its clients with increased computing power in the hunt for new reserves and to protect itself from cyclical swings in its energy business.
 Sema also has clients in the utility sector, for which Schlumberger already provides metering and payment systems.
The deal would be the second technology acquisition in recent days for the U.S. company, which said on Friday it would buy the CP8 smartcard unit of
French computer maker Groupe Bull (PBUL) for $323 million.
France Telecom (PFTE) and BNP Paribas, which own 16.9 percent and 5.1 percent of Sema respectively, have agreed to sell their holdings. France Telecom shares shed 1 percent at  82.25 in Paris trading.
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VIDEO
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 CNNfn's Jack Cafferty takes a peek at Schlumberger's deal. |
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Sema (SEM) shares jumped 16.2 percent to 552 pence in afternoon London trade. The stock rose some 20 percent on February 5 after it said it had been approached for a possible takeover. The narrow gap between the offer price and the current share price indicatesd investors don't expect a competing bid to emerge.
In early New York trade Schlumberger stock slumped 6.5 percent to $73.10.
The Anglo-French company said prior to the announcement it was in talks with several parties but Chief Executive Pierre Bonelli told journalists on a conference call on Monday that no other party had gone further than expressing an interest.
Sema's market value is now a fraction of what it was just six months ago.
In its second earnings warning late last month, the beleaguered group said its 2000 telecom revenue had fallen below expectations.
The company warned in November that profits would undershoot expectations, largely due to the "significant deterioration" in the third-quarter performance of Atlanta, Ga.-based LHS, a software provider that helps telephone operators calculate customer bills. Sema bought LHS for $4.7 billion in March.
Sema shares lost about half their value on the day of that warning, sending it out of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index in London. Sema will post its results for 2000 on February 20.
Schlumberger said it expected the deal to close in the second quarter of 2001. 
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