The liquidity contract
The purpose of the liquidity contract entered into with an investment services provider is to improve the liquidity of the Capgemini share and to allow regular quotations in accordance with market practices accepted by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF – the French Financial Markets Authority).
The liquidity program report filed by Capgemini every 6 month is available here.
In 2020, a total of 1,063,201 shares were purchased on behalf of Capgemini SE, at an average price of €99.56 per share, representing 0.63% of the share capital at December 31, 2020. During the same period, 1,104,046 Capgemini SE shares were sold at an average price of €101.50 per share, representing 0.65% of the share capital at December 31, 2020. At the year-end, the liquidity account presented a balance of 20,964 shares (0.01% of the share capital) and approximately €25 million.
The multi-year share buyback program
As part of the active management of the share capital, Capgemini Board of Directors has decided in February 2016 to launch a €600 million share buyback program. The program was extended to €1,100 million in December 2016. In February 2020, the Board of Directors approved a new multi-year share buyback program of €600 million.
Under these multi-year programs, the Group completed several share buybacks as follows (based on the execution date of the orders, and not the settlement date):
| Year | Amount (in millions of euros) |
Volume (number of shares) |
Average price (euros) |
| 2016* | 324 | 3,973,710 | 81.45 |
| 2017 | 176 | 1,958,761 | 90.02 |
| 2018 | 200 | 1,831,810 | 109.18 |
| 2019 | 150 | 1,598,231 | 93.85 |
| 2020 | 519 | 4,964,862 | 104.45 |
| * in 2016, 203,530 shares were also repurchased as part of a prior program authorization (at an average price of 75.66 euros for a total amount of €15 million) | |||
Other ad-hoc buybacks
In compliance with the authorizations voted at the general meeting, Capgemini may also buy back shares in addition to the share repurchase carried out under the multi-year share buyback program.
Capgemini implements Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOP) as part of the Group’s policy to associate all employees to its development and performance. To neutralize the dilution resulting from the ESOP capital increases, Capgemini may also implement dedicated buyback plans.
Hence, in 2017, 2018, and in 2020, in relation to the 4th, 5th and 7th ESOP plans, Capgemini carried out share repurchases for respectively €360 million, €264 million and €279 million.
| Year | Amount (in millions of euros) |
Volume (number of shares) |
Average price (euros) |
| 2017 | 360 | 3,522,495 | 102.20 |
| 2018 | 264 | 2,500,000 | 105.46 |
| 2020 | 279 | 3,000,000 | 106.20 |
These buyback transactions are also subject to regulatory filings (Notice of trading on own shares, available here) no later than 7 days after the transaction.