With a new strategy geared towards re-energising the company's growth engine led by newer technologies and innovation across all its services, Infosys on Friday announced the acquisition of San Francisco-headquartered Kallidus Inc (d.b.a Skava) and its affiliate, for $120 million. The privately held company develops and delivers a cloud-host platform for mobile websites, apps, and other digital shopping experiences across mobile, tablet, and desktop. The all-cash deal includes retention bonus and deferred component, Infosys said.
This is the IT major’s second acquisition so far this year. In February, Infosys acquired automation technology provider Panaya Inc in an all-cash deal of $200 million. US-headquartered Panaya is a provider of cloud-based services for large-scale enterprise software management. With a large operation in Israel, Panaya’s key clients include Coca-Cola, GE, Apple and Johnson & Johnson. The largest ever acquisition in Infosys’s history has been that of Swiss management and IT consulting firm Lodestone Holding AG in September 2012 in a deal valued at $349.58 million to boost its consulting services business in the European region.
During the company’s post earnings conference call on Friday, Rajiv Bansal, CFO, Infosys, pointed out that “mergers and acquisitions will be a significant part” of the IT major’s strategy going forward. Despite sitting on huge cash reserves, Infosys so far, has never been aggressive with its buyouts unlike its rivals such as HCL Technologies and US-headquartered Cognizant.
Bangalore-based Infosys also announced an early-stage investment of $2 million in Airviz, a spin-out from Carnegie Mellon University, which is into personal air quality monitoring space. “This investment was made out of the $500 million Innovation Fund earmarked for investments in disruptive new technologies," Infosys said, adding: “It positions us as a driving force in the fast-growing personal health monitoring market with a big data solution that provides indoor air pollution sensing and visualisation.” Infosys will have a minority stake in Airviz.
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