Wipro gets to cloud with $500-million US firm acquisition

Appirio is the second biggest acquisition by Wipro, after Infocrossing, which it bought for $600 million in 2007

Wipro has acquired Appirio, a US-based company that helps companies implement cloud applications like Salesforce and Workday, for $500 million (Rs 3,325 crore).

Appirio, which has large offshore presence, is Wipro’s second purchase after Abidali Neemuchwala took over as chief executive of India’s third largest software exporter. The deal will help Wipro gain expertise in implementing applications on the cloud and for newer clients like Facebook, eBay and Home Depot.

Wipro also gets access through Topcoder, Appirio’s crowdsourcing marketplace, to over 1 million designers, developers and data scientists around the world.

“Wipro’s acquisition of Appirio will create one of the world’s largest cloud transformation practices, a game changer in today’s as-a-service and digital economy,” Wipro said in a statement.

In February, Wipro acquired for $460 million HealthPlan Services, a transaction service business provider for the health insurance industry in the US. Both acquisitions help Neemuchwala, who came in from larger rival TCS, further his aim of doubling revenue to $15 billion by 2020.

Appirio is the biggest acquisition by Wipro after Infocrossing, bought for $600 million in 2007. Appirio was founded by Chris Barbin, Mike O’Brien, Glenn Weistein and Narinder Singh in 2006 and had revenue of $200 million in 2015.

Appirio has an offshore base in Jaipur, where the majority of its 1,250 workforce is located.

“Appirio and Wipro are coming together to unlock transformational synergies in applications and help enterprises create new business models,” said Neemuchwala.

Wipro will consolidate its cloud applications practices of Salesforce and Workday under the Appirio brand. Chris Barbin, chief executive officer of Appirio, will head the business. Wipro expects the deal to be closed by December. The Wipro’s stock closed up 0.19 per cent at Rs 495.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.