Deal teardown · Technology & engineering consultancy

CGI's £713m acquisition of BJSS — a UK tech consultancy deal teardown

On 29 January 2025, Canadian IT services group CGI signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Leeds-headquartered technology and engineering consultancy BJSS. Reported deal value is c.£713m in cash for a business generating c.£211m in FY24 revenue with 3,000+ people across the UK and US.

By Chris at Sell LtdLast updated 1 January 1970

Editorial disclosure. Sell Ltd did not advise on this transaction. This page is an editorial analysis of a publicly-reported UK acquisition. Every fact is sourced from the linked press releases and trade coverage at the bottom of the page. Quotes are lifted verbatim from those sources only; we do not invent seller quotes.

TL;DR

CGI paid a reported ~£713m for BJSS — a UK-headquartered engineering consultancy with c.£211m revenue and 3,000+ staff. That is a headline enterprise value roughly 3.4× revenue, well above the 1.0–1.8× revenue band typical for sub-£10m UK IT consultancies. What owners in the sector should take from this: retained public-sector frameworks and delivery IP (not headcount) are what pushed the multiple.

Deal facts

Acquirer: CGI Inc. (NYSE: GIB / TSX: GIB.A)
Target: BJSS Limited
Announcement date: 29 January 2025 (signing announced)
Deal structure: 100% share purchase — all-cash
Disclosed price: Reported c.£713m (Financial Times, Reuters)
Disclosed / inferred multiple: ~3.4× reported FY24 revenue

Sector context — what this multiple means for other technology & engineering consultancy owners

Typical multiple range

1.0–1.8× revenue for £2–10m UK IT consultancies; 2.5–4×+ for scaled, retained-framework businesses

Size band this applies to

SMEs in this sector cluster at £1–15m turnover

The vast majority of UK tech-consultancy sales do not look like CGI/BJSS. Sub-£10m owner-managed shops with lumpy T&M revenue and no proprietary IP typically clear 4–6× EBITDA (roughly 1.0–1.5× revenue) in a trade sale. What lifts a business into the 3×+ revenue territory BJSS commanded is retained framework revenue (G-Cloud, DOS, DDaT contracts), embedded delivery IP that survives a founder departure, and a delivery model that a strategic acquirer can absorb without re-selling the client base.

What a technology & engineering consultancy owner should learn from this

Retained framework revenue moves the multiple more than headcount growth does. £5m of G-Cloud/DDaT revenue is worth materially more than £5m of lumpy T&M.
Sell to a strategic (Accenture, Capgemini, CGI, TCS, Infosys) not a PE roll-up if you have deep public-sector accreditation — the strategic will pay for the framework seat.
Founder concentration kills multiples in this sector. If two partners bring 60% of the pipeline, price it in a lockstep earn-out or you'll be forced into one.
Delivery IP (playbooks, accelerators, reusable code libraries) is the single biggest lever — document it, name it, price it into the IM.
Utilisation, gross margin per consultant and contract-length by client are the three numbers a serious buyer will model first. Have them clean for 24 months of trailing data.
Public-sector security clearances (SC/DV) held by staff are real value — quantify them in the IM.
£15m+ revenue tech consultancies are a strategic-acquirer market. Below £2m revenue, expect trade-sale multiples closer to 1× revenue.

Illustrative · not a claim

How a Sell Ltd process would have looked

For a UK tech consultancy in the £1–10m turnover band, a Sell Ltd process would run: (1) Chris pulls Companies House filings + published frameworks and drafts a confidential teaser highlighting retained revenue and clearance stack; (2) buyer matching prioritises UK strategic acquirers with matching SIC codes and prior consultancy acquisitions in the last 36 months; (3) IM emphasises framework wins, average contract length and gross margin per consultant. Sell Ltd did not advise on the CGI/BJSS deal — this section is illustrative of the process we run for owners at the £1–15m band.

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Other UK deal teardowns

Nine more editorial teardowns of real UK acquisitions — one per sector — sourced from public press releases and trade coverage.

Frequently asked questions

How much did CGI pay for BJSS?

Reported deal value is c.£713m in cash. BJSS reported c.£211m in FY24 revenue, giving a headline enterprise value of roughly 3.4× revenue.

Is a 3.4× revenue multiple normal for UK tech consultancies?

No. Sub-£10m owner-managed UK IT consultancies typically clear 1.0–1.8× revenue (or 4–6× EBITDA). The BJSS multiple reflects scale, retained public-sector frameworks and 3,000+ delivery staff.

What is the typical multiple for a £1–5m UK tech consultancy?

In our modelling of recent sub-£10m UK IT consultancy deals, gross multiples cluster in the 4–6× EBITDA band, with a discount for founder concentration and a premium for retained framework revenue.

Should I sell to a PE roll-up or a strategic?

If your value is retained public-sector framework revenue and clearance-heavy staff, sell to a strategic acquirer — they'll pay for the framework seat. If your value is a repeatable managed-service revenue base, a PE roll-up may pay more.

How long does a typical UK tech consultancy sale take?

8–14 weeks from confidential listing to signed heads of terms is realistic for a clean £1–5m business. Add 4–8 weeks for due diligence and SPA. The 4–8 month total is compressed materially when the IM and data room are pre-built.

What kills a tech consultancy sale?

Founder concentration, un-invoiced WIP, informal IP ownership (staff contracts silent on code IP), and lumpy T&M with no forward book.

Do I need a broker for a sale at £2m revenue?

Not at that size band. A specialist broker will typically want a £5–15k retainer plus 3–8% success fee for a deal that clears 1–1.5× revenue. The economics rarely work below £5m turnover — a light-touch AI-first process is a better fit.

How is EBITDA usually adjusted in a tech consultancy sale?

Standard add-backs: owner salary above market, one-off recruitment costs, non-recurring investment in the IP stack, personal expenses. Do not add back genuine sales and marketing spend that generated the pipeline — buyers will strip it back in.

What sources did you use for this teardown?

CGI's press release via PR Newswire, BJSS's own company site, and public revenue figures reported by CGI at signing. All sources are linked at the bottom of the page. Sell Ltd did not advise on this transaction.

Where can I get a valuation on my own tech consultancy?

Start with our free valuation calculator and the EBITDA-multiple lookup for the IT & professional services sector — both are linked from the /sell-my-business hub.

Sources

Every deal fact on this page traces to one of the sources below. All external.

Editorial correction? Email info@sellltd.co.uk — we correct any factual error within 48 hours.

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