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Australia,Canada,India : WIPRO decided to spend $195M to buy ATCO I-TEK [TendersInfo (India)](TendersInfo (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Wipro, the third largest software company of India, has announced its plans to buy ATCO I-Tek, the IT services wing of the Canadian ATCO, in an all-cash consideration worth $195 million. The Bangalore-based global IT firm, which is led by Azim Premji, has revealed in a stock market disclosure that the company is expected to accomplish the acquisition of ATCO I-Tek in the Q3, 2014, subject to customary closing terms and conditions. The planned acquisition is to reinforce Wipro's footprint in North America and Australia as well as enhance its IT services delivery system there. Wipro will obtain all the shares of ATCO I-Tek, comprising existing contracts as well as workforce, plus the assets of ATCO I-Tek Australia under its acquisition deal. The deal forms a component of a much bigger outsourcing agreement under which Wipro will deliver ATCO with a comprehensive set of IT services over a period of 10 years. It expects to earn more than $112 million (C$120 million) from the contract per annum for the next 10 years, through December 2024. ATCO's IT services have been outsourced partially owing to the regulatory hurdles that ATCO's utility entities witnessed regularly while making requests to the Alberta Utilities Commission to comprise IT expenses, delivered by ATCO I-Tek, for improvement in customer rates. ATCO s Senior VP & CFO - Brian Bale stated, "This alliance ensures ATCO can focus on growing our core businesses of structures and logistics, utilities and energy while Wipro delivers the strategic and innovative IT solutions required to support our global operations." ATCO delivers services in the fields of structures & logistics (manufacturing, logistics and noise abatement), utilities (pipelines, natural gas and power transmission and distribution), energy (power production, natural gas collection, processing, and storage plus liquids extraction) and technologies (business systems solutions). The firm operates with an employee fleet of more than 9,800 people, who are positioned across the globe. The Chief Executive (Energy, Natural Resources & Utilities), Wipro, Anand Padmanabhan stated, "Our focus will be to enable ATCO to enhance their competitiveness by deployment of strategic solutions and efficient delivery of IT services. He added, We have traditionally had a strong position in the utilities space in Europe and this engagement provides momentum to our business in Canada and Australia. The alliance with ATCO enhances our capability to create, nurture and tap local talent to power our growth journey in Canada. Although Wipro has recently made investments in small business entities, comprising many new technology firms, it has not made any acquisition since this January. The company s purchase of ATCO I-Tek also reflects its largest acquisition after 2007, when it spent about $600 million for Infocrossing. (c) 2014 Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |