Wipro may buy German SAP service provider

Wipro, India's third-largest computer services provider, may buy a German competitor that specialises in software developed by SAP AG, the world's largest maker of business management programmes.

The company will have sales of about $100 million to $200 million, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a Bloomberg Television interview in London.

"We are looking for somebody which has a strong German presence rather than a strong global presence, because we want to get more traction in Germany,'' Premji said.

Wipro joins bigger rival Infosys in seeking to acquire companies in Europe to gain customers and opportunities to win bigger contracts as the US economic slowdown curbs orders in its biggest market.

Infosys, India's second-biggest computer services company, on August 25 offered to buy Axon Group Plc, a UK-based adviser for SAP software, for £407.1 million ($746 million) in cash. The purchase, if completed, would be the largest by an Indian technology company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Wipro, based in Bangalore, last year acquired US-based Infocrossing Inc for $548 million, the biggest acquisition by an Indian software provider at the time. Wipro in July reported a 14 per cent jump in first-quarter profit to Rs 814 crore ($186 million), missing analyst estimates as customers in the US, its largest market, cut and delayed orders, hit by the credit crisis and an economic slowdown.