PARIS — Capgemini said it will sell its U.S. federal contracting subsidiary, Capgemini Government Solutions, after the unit’s work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement drew scrutiny in France, Feb. 1, 2026. The company said U.S. rules governing classified federal work limited the oversight it could exercise and led it to start a divestment process it described as immediate and definitive.
The company said those restrictions kept the parent from maintaining “appropriate control” over parts of the subsidiary’s operations to ensure they aligned with the group’s objectives, according to a Reuters report.
Capgemini says the break is about oversight, not scale
The announcement comes after reporting that the U.S. unit signed a contract in December 2025 supporting ICE “skip tracing,” a set of investigative services typically used to locate hard-to-find people. The award included an initial order of about $4.8 million and a ceiling of up to $365 million over two years, The Washington Post reported, citing federal procurement records and describing the effort as part of a broader ICE program that uses outside vendors.
The Post reported the program is designed to outsource work such as address verification and document delivery, and said the Department of Homeland Security has argued that vendors are not making apprehensions under the initiative.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told lawmakers the company must be fully transparent about its activities and reassess the work if necessary. Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat said he learned of the contract’s nature through public sources and that “the nature and scope of this work has raised questions compared to what we typically do,” The Associated Press reported. Ezzat also said the U.S. subsidiary operates under governance restrictions tied to classified work, including an independent board and operational separation from the broader group.
The controversy has landed amid weeks of protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and heightened criticism of ICE after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot in Minneapolis during federal immigration operations, as described in recent reporting.
French lawmakers across party lines also demanded an explanation after reports linked the subsidiary to immigration enforcement and removals work for ICE, The Guardian reported. Capgemini has said the December award is not currently being executed while the U.S. unit reviews the contract and its contracting procedures.
Capgemini has also stressed the U.S. government unit is small relative to the group, saying it represents about 0.4% of estimated 2025 revenue and less than 2% of U.S. turnover, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the company.
How Capgemini built the unit now heading for sale
The divestment marks a sharp turn for a business Capgemini expanded over years through government-focused deals and capability additions. In 2021, the company bought federal IT consultancy VariQ and said it would fold the firm into Capgemini Government Solutions, according to Consulting.us.
Earlier, Capgemini also broadened its footprint in cyber and regulated work through acquisitions and asset purchases. A 2019 deal brought nearly 500 cybersecurity staff into the company when Leidos sold its commercial cyber business to Capgemini, Washington Technology reported.
Capgemini did not disclose a buyer, valuation or timeline for closing. The company said it is initiating the divestment process immediately, casting the move as a clean separation from a unit whose classified-work constraints left the parent unable to apply the level of oversight it expects.
