Satyam eyes acquisitions for growth

Rosemary Arackaparambil

HYDERABAD: Satyam Computer Services is actively looking for acquisitions to help boost growth, the head of its strategy and communications unit informed.

"One of the most important focus areas for us today in IT services is inorganic growth, we are actively looking into it," said K Thiagarajan, director and senior vice-president, corporate strategy and communications.

"We have grown organically quite a bit. We now have the areas where we don't want to spend inordinate amounts of time growing skill sets, growing markets, growing customer relationships which we can readily acquire," he said.

Hyderabad-based Satyam has the financial strength to acquire companies, he added, as long as their corporate cultures were compatible.

India's fourth largest software services exporter, which has cash of Rs 1,600 crore ($350 million) at the end of September, is looking for companies in North America and Europe.

With operations in 45 countries already, Satyam set up shop in China in 2002, which Thiagarajan said could serve as a delivery base for global clients.

"It is conceivable over a period that we will be sharing offshore work between India and China," he said.

Satyam, also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is looking for acquisitions to expand its back-office services business, currently provided by its subsidiary Nipuna, he said.

Thiagarajan said the software services sector was seeing demand growth across industries and Indian software companies are becoming large-scale recruiters.

"In the beginning of the year, we thought we would have 15 percent growth in people terms. Currently, we are very clear it will be at least 30 percent," he said.

Satyam employed 9,759 people at the start of the current fiscal year in April 2003.

(C) Reuters