Infy looks to buy European firm

Infosys is planning acquisitions in Europe and some non-English countries across verticals, a top company official said.

“We are looking for acquisitions,” Infosys Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of the Nasscom India Leadership Forum here today.

The company was looking at acquisitions across Europe and non-English-speaking countries and even in the US, Gopalakrishnan said, adding, “We are open to acquisitions everywhere...And across verticals.”

The Infosys official said the company had plans to recruit from campuses for next year.

“We are already recruiting in the campuses. In the campuses, we hope to recruit 15,000 people,” he said. “We already gave a raise (in salary) in October, about 8 per cent on an average in India. And what we will do in April, we will wait and see because the next cycle for increment is in April,” Gopalakrishnan said.

On pricing, he said at the moment there was no upside pricing and it would continue to be flat. “There is no upside pricing now. It will continue to be flat.”

On clients shifting out of output-based pricing, he said: “That has been happening over the last several years. We are probably seeing an acceleration to try out new business models, new engagement models and I think this is a good sign, because it shows that the model had become the mainstream and you will find interesting business opportunities to engage with clients in different business models."

"Discretionary spend is happening now. But we will have to wait and see how fast it will rise, how much it will be, etc...But, definitely, we are seeing signs of discretionary spends, we are seeing opportunities in transmission areas and like that," he added.