Infosys to spin off products business into subsidiary

Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd. will seek shareholders' consent Saturday to spin off its products, platforms and solutions (PPS) business to its subsidiary Edgeverve Systems Ltd for about $80 million (Rs.480 crore).

"A special resolution will be moved at the company's 33rd annual general meeting (AGM) later in the day for shareholders' approval on merging PPS with Edgeverve from July 1," Infosys company secretary K. Parvatheesam said here in a notice to investors.

The deal, however, will not include Finacle, the global software major's flagship product for the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical.

The $8.3-billion company floated the subsidiary (Edgeverve) in February as part of its 3.0 business strategy to focus on developing and selling products and platforms and generate at least one-third of its total revenue from PPS in the long-term as against 5-6 percent currently.

"To balance our portfolio of businesses, we announced the 3.0 strategy, where a third of our revenues will accrue from new technologies over time," outgoing executive vice-chairman and co-founder S. Gopalakrishnan told IANS recently.

The strategy envisages multi-pronged approach to insulate the company's business from disruptions due to various factors, including changing technologies and global economic cycles impacting investments in IT infrastructure by enterprises.

"It is difficult to time technology disruptions perfectly. You either run the risk of being too early or too late. We underestimated the effects of adaption of these new technologies and the change in the business model," Goplakrishnan said.

The PPS business had spawned a retail platform branded "TradeEdge" to help global brands in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) segment to drive profitable growth in emerging markets.

"As a cloud-based platform, TradeEdge provides FMCG firms affordable way to expand their reach in emerging markets, which present a challenge and an opportunity for all stakeholders across the chain," company's global head for PPS Sanjya Purohit said recently.

The platform allows FMCG firms and their distributors to exchange information on sales, inventory and products in weeks though a cloud-based ERP (enterprise resource planning) system and adopt best practices in hours.

The appointment of renowned technocrat Vishal Sikka, former executive board member of German software product firm SAP AG, as the company's first outside chief executive from Aug 1, will boost the PPS business, as he is credited with the success of analytical database platform HANA (High-performance Analytic Appliance).

"Computing technology is reshaping every industry across every walk of life. We have a unique opportunity to deliver breakthrough solutions that will bring greater value to our clients, employees, investors and other stakeholders," Sikka said in a statement Thursday.