NIIT eyeing fin services, travel biz buys in Europe

IT solutions provider NIIT Technologies is planning to expand its presence in Europe through strategic acquisitions in the financial services, travel and transport and retail sectors.

Arvind Thakur, CEO, NIIT Technologies, said the company was "planning to make inroads into the untapped segments of the European market."

Europe contributes to over 48% of the company's overall revenue. "Europe is a largely under-penetrated market for offshoring services. Unlike the US, Europe is a heterogenous market. We are already present in Belgium, UK, The Netherlands,  Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and are keen on expanding our presence both within these countries and new markets."

Meanwhile, as part of the company's increased Europe focus, NIIT announced the appointment of two senior vice presidents to head its UK and Continental Europe IT solutions businesses, respectively. The company's UK business unit will now be headed by Ravi Shankar Pandey who will be based in London.

In January 2007 the company had moved Pramod Srivastava to Stuttgart as the head of its Continental Europe operations. Besides running operations in the continent, he will also serve with German subsidiary NIIT Technologies AG.