Infosys to continue investing in Sikka-era acquisitions; Wipro to buy emerging-tech firms

Information technology (IT) services and consultancy major Infosys said that the company will continue to invest in acquisitions Panaya and Skava. 

The Bengaluru-based IT firm had written off its investment worth more than Rs 800 crore in both these microservices units acquired during the previous chief executive officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka's time. Now current CEO Salil Parekh has said that the offerings of these two units will be merged with Infosys’ overall portfolio.

According to media reports, Infosys had tried to sell both these units but the attempts remained unsuccessful. Sikka was under a cloud for allegedly overpaying for these acquisitions. However, Infosys chairman and co-founder Nandan Nilekani told shareholders that the investigation into the Panaya acquisition would not be made public.

Wipro

Wipro chairman-designate Rishad Premji is looking at acquisitions to make the Bengaluru-based IT major future-ready with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, The Economic Times reported, citing people in the know who did not wish to be named.

Premji, 41, will take over chairmanship of the Bengaluru-based IT firm from 31 July. In his previous stint as chief strategy officer, Premji had headed Wipro Ventures, which oversaw the company's investments in startups.

According to a Mint report published earlier this year, Wipro Ventures had deployed $65 million, or two-thirds of its $100 million corpus, in 18 startups since it was set up in 2015 and has helped its parent win more than 100 deals. By contrast, Infosys has invested in only seven startups so far.

"Rishad and (chief executive) Abidali Neemuchwala already have a strong base to drive an aggressive growth and differentiation strategy. Wipro is a respected brand, offers large-scale services and brings capabilities across emerging technologies to its clients. The “what” in terms of its four stated big bets (digital, cloud, cybersecurity, and engineering) makes sense but the “why Wipro” and “how it will help clients” need better articulation of value and Wipro’s unique point of view," Phil Fersht, founder and chief executive of IT research firm HFS, wrote in a blogpost recently.

Bitcon

As Facebook announced its entry into cryptocurrency last week, Bitcoin regained the $10,000 level in over a year and touched $11,300 on Monday.

In addition, the total market capitalisation rose to a high of $331.8 billion, its highest point since 31 July 2018, said Bitcoin monitoring portal Coindesk. Facebook's digital currency won't be available until 2020. Some organisations involved in supporting the venture include PayPal, Vodafone, Uber, eBay, Spotify, Mastercard, Visa and Ribbit Capital.