Infosys to buy Lodestone for Rs 1,932 cr

The all-cash deal expected to be concluded by October and to increase Infy's clients to more than 900

Infosys Ltd, India's second largest IT services company, on Monday announced a definitive agreement to acquire Swiss management and consultancy firm, Lodestone Holding AG for an aggregate enterprise value of CHF 330 million in cash. Headquartered in Zurich, Lodestone advises international companies on strategy and process optimisation, and provides business information solutions enabled by SAP.

Infosys expects to complete the acquisition by end of October 2012. Infosys presently has a cash reserve of $3.24 billion (Rs 18,031 crore) as on June 30, 2012.

Commenting on the transaction, S D Shibulal, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys said, " A key plank of our Infosys 3.0 strategy is to expand our Consulting and Systems Integration business. This acquisition fits perfectly into that strategy. Lodestone and Infosys share a culture of unwavering focus on nurturing and maintaining client trust."

Upon completion, the acquisition will strengthen Infosys Consulting and Systems Integration capabilities, by bringing more than 850 employees, including 750 experiences SAP consultants to the company. Lodestone will add more than 200 clients across industries including manufacturing, automotive and life sciences to the Infosys' pool of over 700 clients. Post acquisition, the combined Consulting practice focusing on SAP programs will deliver revenues of more than $1 billion, firmly establishing Infosys amongst the global leaders in SAP consulting, the company said in a statement.

Infosys Consulting and Systems Integration business, today, has more than 30,000 consultants across 10 industry verticals and accounts for 31 per cent of the company's revnues. The Lodestone acqusition will significantly enhance its global presence, particularly in continental europe and emerging markets likd Latin America and Asia Pacific. Further, Lodestone's clients will get ready access to the scale and global reach of Infosys, in addition to a broad spectrum of capabilities across consulting, systems integration and outsourcing.

Ronald Hafner, Chairman and CEO, Lodestone said, "Our clients entrust us with their most important business and technology transformation initiatives. We are eager to leverage the widely acknowledged global reach of Infosys and its leadership in the consulting and technology arena to deliver greater value to our clients".