Business

Canada’s tech king is… who??

Since RIM’s downfall, a number of unknown firms have vied for the title of ‘Canada’s biggest publicly traded technology company’

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You have probably never heard of Catamaran Corp., but last week, it officially became the biggest publicly traded technology firm in the country. Since Research In Motion lost the coveted designation earlier this spring as its stock plummeted, a number of virtually unknown firms have vied for the title of Canada’s tech king. CGI Group was the first to overtake the troubled BlackBerry maker. The Montreal-based IT consulting firm jumped ahead after purchasing Logica, a British computer-services company, in May. Following the merger, CGI’s market cap rose to $6.19 billion, surpassing RIM’s, which was then $5.4 billion.

CGI’s TSX dominance, however, was short-lived. SXC Health Solutions recently acquired Catalyst Health Solutions in a $4.4-billion deal to become Catamaran Corp. The firm, which offers IT services for the health care industry, became Canada’s largest tech stock, with a market cap of $9.6 billion. Though, unlike RIM, its Canadian connections are thin—based in Chicago, it employs fewer than 40 Canadians.

While RIM’s stock value continues to fall (as of early this week its market cap was just $3.7 billion) it still holds one Canadian title: the highest revenue on the TSX Information Technology Index.

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