Wipro to buy German firm for Rs 517 cr

Expects to close the acquisition by the fourth quarter of FY16

Wipro on Wednesday said it had signed an agreement with German-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) to acquire cellent AG for euro 73.5 million (Rs 517 crore or $77 mn).  cellent, which provides information technology consulting and software services, is a fully-owned subsidiary of LBBW, a provider of banking and financial services. It operates in Central Europe, primarily in includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2014, cellent had reported revenue of euro 87 mn ($92 mn).  

The country’s third-largest information technology services company expects to close the acquisition by in the March quarter of FY16, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. “cellent will significantly boost our footprint in the DACH region, especially in the manufacturing and automotive domains,” said N S Bala, chief executive (manufacturing and hi-tech), Wipro.

“By joining the Wipro family, we will be able to leverage Wipro’s vast services portfolio and its international network,” Peter Rohrbach, chief executive, cellent. Wipro’s stock price dipped 3.70 points or 0.64 per cent to close at Rs 577.75 on BSE on Wednesday.

Wipro has so far acquired 10 companies, the largest being Infocrossing, which it bought for $600 million in August 2007. In July, it had acquired Denmark-based design firm Designit for Rs 595 crore.

Wipro's stock price dipped 3.70 points or 0.64 per cent to close at Rs 577.75 on the BSE on Wednesday. It is trading flat from the previous day's closing at $12.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.