TCS' second acquisition this month, acquires US-based BridgePoint Group

Company's second acquisition this month. Acquisition to bolster domain expertise in US financial services, retirement services space

India’s largest IT service provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) seems to be actively getting back to mergers and acquisitions space after focusing only on organic growth strategy for almost last five years.

The Mumbai-based company on Wednesday announced acquisition of BridgePoint Group, LLC, a US-based management consulting firm, its second one in the ongoing month. The financial details were not disclosed.

Last month, TCS had announced W12 Studios, a London based digital design studio with an aim of strengthening its ‘TCS Interactive’ portfolio of digital marketing services.

BridgePoint Group which is led by women executives, caters to the financial services industry, specialising in retirement services, the company said in a statement, without giving any further details.

TCS which works with eight of the top ten US banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies also a strong player in the retirement services space globally. This acquisition will add to TCS’ financial services and insurance domain knowledge, particularly in the area of the US retirement services, where BridgePoint’s team of experts currently provide strategic insights and advisory services around growth, business agility, customer experience and technical transformation, it added.

“The US retirement business is complex, so BridgePoint’s deep industry expertise and team of highly experienced consultants will enable TCS to develop a robust customer-focused retirement services business,” said Suresh Muthuswami, President & Global Head, BFSI Platform, TCS.

TCS had suffered a few quarters of softness in BFSI which finally stabilised over Q2 (September quarter) with the management indicating revival in the US markets with signing of deals worth over $1.5 billion. BridgePoint’s entire management team and key experts will join TCS.

Earlier in the year, TCS announced a $2 billion deal with Transamerica, a provider of life insurance, retirement and investment solutions, to enable the transformation of administration of its US insurance and annuity business lines. TCS also has a $1.2 billion partnership with UK-based M&G Prudential aimed at digitally transforming business for its UK savings and retirement customers.

In the past three years, global rival Accenture has spent over $3.4 billion on M&As, of which around $1.7 billion were spent in 2017 alone. Majority of the 70-odd acquisitions that the NYSE-listed company has made so far were focused on digital and cloud-related businesses.

“Our customers require access to new and innovative solutions, capitalising on both BridgePoint’s broad understanding of the industry’s complexities and TCS’ expertise in enabling digital transformations. The portfolio of services offered by TCS will offer growth potential and superior service to retirement providers across the US,” said Barbara March, Chief Executive Officer, BridgePoint.