Cognizant keen to 'pick up' pace of acquisitions to enhance capabilities

Cognizant's 2.56 lakh workforce is based out of India

Cognizant on Thursday said it hopes to "pick up" the pace of acquisitions as the US-based IT firm scouts for potential targets across regions that will help it enhance capabilities or footprint.

While the company -- which competes with Indian tech majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys -- has bought a number of small firms, Cognizant said, adding it will not shy away from a large acquisition if it brought in value addition.

"Our primary focus in acquisition is to do what we call tuck-in acquisitions that we can integrate easily. We look at acquisitions when they do three things for us -- expand capability, industry, geography, and more recently platforms," Cognizant CEO Francisco D'souza told PTI.

He added that the company will continue to look for platforms -- similar to its TriZetto buy (for $2.7 billion) -- as it believes that the services-plus-software model will continue to grow.

While Cognizant is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, about 75 per cent of its 2.56 lakh workforce is based out of India.

D'souza said the company continuously scouts the market for exploring potential acquisitions and that digital service is increasingly becoming a critical factor.

"Earlier this year, we came up with a direction that we call accelerating our shift to digital and as part of that, we said we would accelerate pace of M&A... As we go forward, our intent is to actually pick up the pace," he said.

In June this year, Cognizant acquired TMG Health, while it bought BrilliantService in March. In 2016, it made a series of buys including Mirabeau, Idea Couture and KBACE Technologies, among others.