Infosys Acquires New Zealand's Gen-I

The $6.5 billion IT giant Infosys Technologies Ltd continues with its string-of-pearls acquisition strategy. In its latest purchase Infosys is buying out Gen-i the software solutions division of Wellington-headquartered Telecom Corporation of New Zealand (TCNZ) for an undisclosed sum.

According to Fox Business, 110 employees of Gen-i will shift to Infosys post the deal, increasing Infosys' team in New Zealand to over 150 people. The New Zealand operations will be run by Patrick Kouwenhoven, currently Gen-i's head of software solutions and led by Ashok Mysore, Associate Vice President, Infosys.

The acquisition will allow Infosys to strengthen its outsourcing services foray in Australia and New Zealand.

Gen-i is a division of TCNZ which offers communications and IT solutions and services to enterprises in energy, banking and finance, government, healthcare and rural sectors. Solutions offered are around business continuity, cloud computing (ReadyCloud Backup service), compliance, mobility, workplace and sustainability. It also offers services for outsourcing, unified communications, technology training, contact centre, data centre as well as conference and collaboration services.

Besides being one of the top mobile operators in New Zealand and offering fixed line, mobile and internet services to consumers, TCNZ runs business units Chorus - which manages the local access network in New Zealand and a wholesale network services division for other carriers. It also runs a subsidiary in Australia - AAPT is a telecommunications provider acquired in 2007. According to TCNZ's site, it employs 7,000 in New Zealand and 1,600 in Australia and other global locations.

Infosys continues its inorganic growth strategy and is on the hunt for acquisitions in Europe and Japan in healthcare and public services sectors. By investing in new industries and geographies, Infosys hopes to build multiple engines of growth over the next 3-5 years.

Infosys has a strong and liquid balance sheet with $3.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents. As of March 31, 2011, it had 130,820 employees and reported revenues of $6.5 billion, according to Infosys' investor presentation. It operates 63 global development centres - 30 in India and 33 in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The Bangalore-based behemoth announced top management changes effective August 2011 including the succession of N R Narayana Murthy by former ICICI Bank chief KV Kamath as the new chairman of the company.