Manulife Financial and CGI renew IT managed services agreement

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HALIFAX, July 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Manulife Financial (TSX, NYSE and PSE: MFC; SEHK: 945) and CGI Group Inc. (CGI) (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB), announced today that CGI will continue to provide IT services to Manulife into 2013 under a multi-million dollar contract renewal. As part of CGI's commitment to the Atlantic region, CGI will continue to deliver IT services to Manulife through its global delivery center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

"Our needs have evolved and CGI has the flexibility and industry insight to work with us," said Wayne Martin, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Manulife's Canadian Division. We've been working together since 2004, and we're confident that CGI will continue to provide us with the reliable and agile IT services we need to deliver on our client commitments."

Under the contract renewal, CGI will continue to leverage its Halifax delivery center to provide systems development, maintenance and integration services to Manulife Financial.

"This contract renewal with Manulife Financial speaks to the importance CGI places on developing long-term client relationships," said Doug McCuaig, President, Canada, CGI. "Manulife is a formidable global player, and we're thrilled to continue to leverage our global delivery capabilities and offer competitively priced IT services to Manulife through our home-shore center of excellence."

Since the initial agreement with Manulife in 2004, CGI's Atlantic Canadian operations have grown to over 700 members, and serves many companies from Canada and around the world.

Quality processes have always been at the forefront of CGI's operations and the Halifax center was appraised according to the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and is ISO 9001 quality certified. The Capability Maturity Model describes the principles and practices underlying software process maturity. It covers practices for planning, engineering, and managing software development and maintenance. In 1994, CGI became the first information technology company in North America to become ISO 9001 certified for its project management framework.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$446 billion (US$440 billion) as at March 31, 2010. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 26,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific as well as from centers of excellence in North America, Europe and India. As of June 30, 2010, CGI's order backlog was $11.4 billion. CGI shares are listed on the NYSE (GIB) and the TSX (GIB.A) and are included in both, the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the FTSE4Good Index. Website: www.cgi.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. These statements and this information represent CGI's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, of which many are beyond the control of the Company. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. These factors include but are not restricted to: the timing and size of new contracts; acquisitions and other corporate developments; the ability to attract and retain qualified members; market competition in the rapidly evolving IT industry; general economic and business conditions; foreign exchange and other risks identified in the press release, in CGI's Annual Report on Form 40-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), the Company's Annual Information Form filed with the Canadian securities authorities (filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com), as well as assumptions regarding the foregoing. The words "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "foresee," "plan," and similar expressions and variations thereof, identify certain of such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. In particular, statements relating to future performance are forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements or on this forward-looking information. You will find more information about the risks that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from our current expectations in the Risks and Uncertainties section.