CGG to become Viridien
Subject to shareholders’ approval at the General Meeting on May 15th, we will change our name and brand.
“Our new name, Viridien, will make a clear commitment of who we are today,
and who we want to be in the future”
On April 8th, 2024, Sophie Zurquiyah, CGG CEO, announced to employees that shareholders will vote at the Annual General Meeting on May 15th to approve the change of its parent company name from CGG to Viridien.
In 2018, CGG launched a strategy to transition into a technology company. The strategy had three key pillars: First, become asset light, ensure an efficient cost base, and enable the Company to better generate cash. Second, focus on technology differentiation in our core profitable businesses and third, develop new areas of profitable growth.
Since that time, it has divested all its data acquisition services, structured the Company to organically generate cash, and, with the end of its contractual vessel commitments in early 2025, it will become fully asset light.
It has also increased its differentiation in Geoscience, Earth Data and Sensing & Monitoring. Its technologies across these core businesses, from its over 500 petaflops of High-Performance Computing capacity, to its OBN technology and advanced Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI), are clearly in the industry leadership position.
Today, it has New Businesses ideally placed for growth in the Low Carbon markets of CCUS and Minerals & Mining, as well as the Infrastructure Monitoring and High-Performance Computing markets outside of oil & gas. In 2023, these New Businesses generated US$90 million in revenue.
With the successful implementation of its strategy, together with the macro market trends of increasing global energy demand, a growing commitment to take care of the planet we live on, the ongoing energy transition, and the continued acceleration of digital technology, the current brand no longer fully reflects who the company is today and wants to be in the future.
Following the shareholders’ approval, the Company will update its parent company name and brand to Viridien, connecting the Company’s 93-year history to its future and confidently positioning it for growth.
Q&A
What is the timeline for the name change?
The change of the parent company name from CGG to Viridien will be submitted for approval at the Annual General Shareholders' Meeting on May 15, 2024, and, if approved, will take effect from that date. The new Viridien brand would be launched in early June.
Is the name change linked to a change in our strategy or organization?
No, the change of name, to Viridien, if approved, will reinforce the continued successful implementation of our existing strategy and current organization.
How would the change impact CGG's listing on the Paris Stock Exchange?
If the change of the parent company name is approved at the Annual General Shareholder Meeting, we will request Euronext Paris to change the current stock ticker symbol (CGG) to another symbol that is in line with the new name, Viridien.
The ISIN code will remain the same: FR0013181864.
Will this change have any implications on existing contracts and agreements?
Despite the change of parent company name, the legal entity name remains the same.
Therefore, in general terms, a change of name of a party is not a variation of contract as such, so, contracts remain in force and valid, including all their rights and obligations. The only reason to amend a contract to reflect the new name is if, unusually, the agreement makes express provision to that effect.
In addition, the names our subsidiaries (example: CGG Services SAS and CGG Services (US) Inc.), will not be changed at the General Meeting on May 15, 2024, and their contracts are also not impacted by the name change of their parent company (CGG).
This change will not affect our daily operations, and all aspects of our business will continue as usual.
Will this change have any implication for contractors and suppliers?
This change will not affect our daily operations including contracts, purchase orders, invoicing, bank account details, contact details, etc. All aspects of our business including supply chain and accounts payable services will continue as usual.
