Infosys Looking at Healthcare Buyouts

Infosys Technologies is focusing on smaller acquisitions in the healthcare space. "We are looking at small acquisitions, of the range of $100-200 million, as managing a large acquired entity would be tough in today's circumstances. We are looking at firms that offer services to healthcare companies," V Balakrishnan, chief financial officer (CFO) of Infosys, the country's second-largest IT services firm, told DNA. Infosys is also evaluating firms in the consulting space, where it lost out to HCL Tech in the race to acquire UK-based SAP consulting firm Axon Plc in August. "Acquisition in the consulting arena would generally be of large ticket sizes, upwards of $500 million. Moreover, for a firm of the size of Infosys, a lot of synergy would happen by having a bigger consulting firm with capabilities in multiple domains," the analyst said. Infosys has begun evaluating firms in France and Germany. Besides, Balakrishnan said the company is evaluating firms in Japan with an aim of getting a stronger foothold in the 'closed Japanese market'. The Japanese market for IT services is estimated at $108 billion. Amongst the top IT firms in India, Infosys have been the most conservative as far as acquisitions are concerned. In 2003, it acquired an Australian firm, Expert Information Technologies, for about $24 million. Four years later, it acquired Philips' global BPO operations. Infosys' cash reserve stood at about Rs 8,450 crore at the end of Q3 (Oct-Nov-Dec) 2008.