Infosys eyes acquisitions in Europe, Japan

Infosys is looking at acquisitions in Europe and Japan to expand markets, says S Gopalakrishnan, president, COO, and member of the board, in a post-results interview. Excerpts:

Infosys continues to be conservative as far as acquisitions are concerned. Comments.

We will look at acquisitions to fill gaps that we identify. We will look at acquisitions to increase market footprint in Europe and Japan. This will help us gain traction on the ground in these markets.

We will also look at building capabilities in areas like consulting via acquisitions. At the same time, we don’t want to be pushed into acquisitions. Data prove that 65-80% of acquisitions fail as they fail to deliver value.

Engineering services outsourcing (ESO) is touted to be a $10-bn opportunity for India by ’10 but accounts for only 1.6% of Infosys’ revenues.

Are you planning to increase focus on ESO?

Engineering services is a fast growing area and contributed 1.6% this quarter. We are focusing on this. But it also happens to be one of the most price-sensitive market opportunities.

We want to grow it in line with our profit expectations. We are doing ESO work in areas like engineering, design, CAD, CAM, aerospace (working for Airbus and Boeing) and others.

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