Calian says ‘market tailwinds’ in its favour as activist investor calls for potential sale

August 29, 2025

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Shares in Calian Group jumped this week after the company responded to an activist investor’s call to explore a possible sale. In a statement Wednesday, Calian said it’s poised to benefit from “market tailwinds” and deliver “long-term value for shareholders” and that it has a “clear strategy in place” to bolster business and increase the value of its shares. The Kanata-based firm pointed to its recent decision to combine its advanced technologies and learning segments into a single division focused on customers in the defence and space sectors, arguing the move will “sharpen its focus” as defence and security spending gains global momentum. Calian also said it is “refreshing” its board of directors with experienced capital markets professionals and “exploring options relating to its non-core assets,” although it did not specify whether those efforts could include selling off parts of the company. When asked for further comment, a Calian spokesperson told OBJ the company had “nothing more to add” to its statement. Calian was responding to a letter from Jersey-based Plantro urging the company to shake up its operations in a bid to maximize share value. According to a report from Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Plantro said it has spoken to what it believes to be a majority of Calian shareholders who are seeking “meaningful, near-term changes” aimed at driving up the price of the company's stock. The private holding company – which said in the letter that it owns more than five per cent of Calian’s shares – suggested the Kanata firm could explore various potential scenarios to boost the business, including an outright sale. According to Bloomberg, Plantro singled out Calian’s slumping IT and cyber division as an asset that could be divested. Calian’s stock price has been climbing since Plantro’s letter was made public. After opening at $48.07 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Wednesday morning, Calian shares had risen more than 10 per cent to $53.12 by mid-afternoon on Friday – roughly matching their gains since the start of 2025. Calian provides products and services to customers around the world in industries such as defence, health care and agriculture. Its diverse product mix includes military training software, cybersecurity tools and satellite technology such as antennas. The firm continues to post year-over-year revenue gains as it has expanded its service lines through a string of acquisitions and demand for products in industries such as defence rises. It reported overall revenues of $192.2 million in its most recent quarter ending June 30, a four per cent increase from the previous year. Taking IT and cyber services out of the equation, revenues in its other business divisions rose nine per cent year-over-year. Calian posted a net profit of $590,000, down from $1.3 million a year ago. The company said the drop in profitability was primarily due to investments in “selling capacity,” amortization and deemed compensation expenses related to acquisitions. Earlier this month, Michael Tremblay, the head of Calian’s IT and cyber division, announced he would be leaving the company in early September. Tremblay is taking on a new role as president and CEO of CANARIE, a federally funded corporation based in Ottawa that works with partners in Canada’s 13 provinces and territories to provide high-speed wireless networks, cybersecurity protection and other critical digital infrastructure for researchers, students and startups. Calian is the second Ottawa-based publicly traded company to face significant pressure from activist investors in the past year. Last September, a pair of major Kinaxis shareholders called for the Kanata-based software maker to explore a potential sale in the wake of a steep decline in the company’s share price over the previous four years and significant turnover in its top leadership ranks that included the retirement of CEO John Sicard and the departure of chief sales officer Claire Rychlewski.