Atos buys Syntel for $3.4 bn to expand North America footprint

IT firm Atos today said its USD 3.4 billion acquisition of Syntel will help the French firm enhance its footprint, especially in the North American market and accelerate the digital transformation of its customers.

"The highly complementary portfolio, customer basis, and geographical presence of the combination between Atos and Syntel will significantly enhance our footprint, in particular in the North American market and accelerate the digital transformation of Atos' customers," Atos Chairman and CEO Thierry Breton said in a statement.

The French company had announced the acquisition yesterday.

Both Atos and Syntel have significant presence in India. Syntel, which has 23,000 engineers in 30 countries, has over 18,000 staff based in India. Atos has about 16,000 people.

All of Syntel's management team is expected to join Atos.

Atos, which reported its financial performance for the first half of 2018 today, saw revenue growing 1.7 per cent to over 6 billion euros. However, its revenue and operating margin was lower in North America year-on-year in the reported period.

Post the transaction (expected by year-end), Syntel CEO Rakesh Khanna will become a member of Atos Executive Committee.

Syntel generated revenues of USD 924 million in 2017, of which 89 per cent was in North America. About 40 per cent of its revenues are driven by a suite of digital and proprietary solutions around cloud, social media, mobile, analytics, Internet of Things and automation.