Wipro Limited announced on Thursday that it had agreed to acquire Capco, a London-based technology consultant, for $ 1.45 billion. The deal, once completed, is expected to help the Indian IT service provider gain a strong foothold and presence in the European market, particularly in the financial services industry where the UK has an established client company.
“Wipro and Capco share complementary business models and key guiding values,” Wipro CEO and MD Thierry Delaporte said in a statement. “Together, we can offer high-level consulting and technology transformation and operations for our clients,” he said.
The Capco purchase, which would be the Indian company’s largest acquisition, barely eight months after Wipro hired Mr. Delaporte from Capgemini, helped the company recover its former position among India’s top three IT service providers.
Capco immediately meets Wipro’s need to expand its financial services framework in Europe, observed Phil Furst, Chief Technology Analyst and CEO of UK-based HFS Research. “This is exactly the kind of acquisition I expected Thierry to expect more to attack the BFSI sector,” he said.
Capco has more than 5,000 advisors and provides digital and technology services to banking and financial institutions in the US Europe and Asia Pacific. The acquisition is expected to close by 30 June, subject to regulatory approval.
“Under Thierry, Wipro is taking an acquisition posture and is likely to add more scale and capacity through acquisitions over the next year or two,” Peter Bender-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group, a Dallas-based research firm he said.
Capco CEO Lance Levy said, “We look forward to leveraging the complementary capabilities and similar cultures of the two companies to drive change in the industry and offer exciting opportunities for both our customers and our people.”
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