Patni-iGate first management meet this week

Patni Computer Systems and iGate will have their first management session this week to discuss the road ahead, according to a senior Patni official.

“The senior management of both companies have met and are in constant touch with each other since the acquisition plan was formalised. This week, we will kick off the management session, wherein we will undertake and discuss the entire planning process for the future road map of the combined entity,” said Surjeet Singh, chief financial officer, Patni Computer Systems.

He said there would be a single integrated management team, “but only after the open offer is completed”. “This will be only after March. Till then both firms will work as independent companies.”

Nasdaq-listed iGate announced the acquisition of Patni earlier this month. iGate, along with private equity player Apax Partners, acquired 63 per cent stake of Patni promoters for $921 million. The open offer to acquire an additional 20 per cent stake will begin from March 4. The total payout for the open offer will be $301 million.

Meanwhile, iGate appointed Deloitte and Mercer to help it in the integration process. According to the integration plan, the company plans to have a common leadership team from both companies. In an earlier interaction with Business Standard, Phaneesh Murthy, the chief executive of iGate, had said: “Mercer will do the bulk of the HR (human resources) integration work and Deloitte has been given the mandate to help in the company integration.”

“The transaction is yet to close. We are getting into the planning mode. The idea is to make sure to focus on what add-ons can be provided for customers and employees. What are the areas were we can complement, where there is minimum overlap between both companies. So, for instance, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) is a vertical where we get an added advantage with iGate. Segments like ITO-BPO (information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing) and managed services are some of the areas where we think we can add strength to both sets of clients,” said Singh.

At present, Patni has 282 clients and iGate has 82 clients.

Singh added, “It is not about who did the acquisition. We have always maintained there were some gaps that we need to fill and an inorganic route is the best way to fill it. Banking and finance was one such segment. With iGate, we are now able to close that gap.”