Narayan AmmachchiBy Narayan Ammachchi
India’s biggest IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has agreed to acquire French IT group Alti SA for US$97 million. Analysts say this is the biggest deal TCS has ever struck in Europe, whose IT services market is valued at $40 billion.
For TCS, the acquisition provides a strong foothold in Europe’s outsourcing industry and provides access to big name companies in sectors including financial services, retail and utilities.
Paris-based Alti SA – owned by CM-CIC LBO Partners and IDI – reported $164 million in annual revenue last year. The French company, TCS says, is regarded as one of the top five system integrators of enterprise solutions in France and has more than 1,200 employees in Europe.
“This acquisition underlines our long-term, strategic commitment to France, which is the third largest IT services market in Europe. I am confident that this acquisition will help us accelerate our growth and presence in France,” said N. Chandrasekaran, CEO and Managing Director, TCS, in a statement.
France has the third largest IT services market in Europe after the UK and Germany. TCS has been operating in France since 1992 and has over 50 clients in the country.
Andre Bensimon, co-founder of Alti SA added, “Supplementing our current services with TCS’ renowned global expertise will provide tremendous additional value to our clients. While our employees will secure the advantages of building their careers in a larger global organization, which is considered a top employer in Europe.”
TCS is one of the world’s biggest outsourcing firms and has over 263,000 consultants in 44 countries. The Mumbai, India-based company generated US $10.17 billion in revenue for year ended March 31, 2012.
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