Patni Targets Acquisitions in US and Continental Europe

Bangalore: Patni is eyeing two acquisitions; one each in the U.S. and Continental Europe, and plans to close at least one transaction by November 2009. The company has been negotiating with both these companies for the past three months and possibly within the next few weeks, the term sheets are likely to be exchanged. A term-sheet refers to an agreement between two companies to pursue negotiations to conclude a potential M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) transaction.


Multiple sources familiar with Patni's acquisition plans said that the company wants to cross the $1-billion mark in revenues through inorganic growth, and compete more effectively with TCS, Infosys and Wipro for large multi-year outsourcing contracts. An anonymous source said that Patni was chasing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) services firm in continental Europe with around $400 million in revenues, while the U.S. target with expertise in insurance solutions area is closer to $150 million in revenues. Banking and financial services industry (BFSI), which includes serving customers such as Guardian Life Insurance, is one of the fastest growing businesses for Patni.

In a telephonic interview to the Economic Times, Patni CEO Jeya Kumar said that the company was indeed pursuing acquisition opportunities for accessing newer markets and scaling up existing domain capabilities. "We would either acquire a company for its pure IP within a particular domain, or for gaining access to a growing market."

According to U.S. based financial analyst, Patni should have around $400 million in cash by the end of 2009. Kumar, who joined Patni in February earlier this year, has been working on transforming Patni's internal processes. Experts such as James Friedman of Susquehanna International Group (SIG) said that the company has already moved in sync with tier-I suppliers by improving its operating margins from around 11 percent last year to almost 17.5 percent during the second quarter ended June this year.

"Patni has accomplished these goals through a combination of cost-cutting initiatives, including headcount reductions, travel controls, onsite/offshore adjustments, and utilization efficiencies. More surprisingly, the company has managed to grow again, with revenues increasing 3.5 percent quarter-over-quarter (QOQ)" said Friedman.