Infy may buy consulting cos for $200mn

[arunkathir]

Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest provider of computer-services technology, may buy consulting businesses for as much a
s $200 million to attract more clients, the finance chief said.

Infosys also may buy similar-sized businesses that process transactions, or information technology companies, Chief Financial Officer V Balakrishnan, 44, said in an interview in New York. The company isn't in serious discussions with anybody, he said, declining to name potential targets.

"Acquisitions are a lot like love," he said. "We're not in love. We haven't even started dating anybody."

Infosys, which is projecting it's first-ever decline in sales this fiscal year, is turning to new services to increase revenue in the worst recession since the 1930s. Building the consulting division will help the Bangalore-based company compete in the US against International Business Machines Corp, the world's largest computer-services provider.

Infosys will look primarily in the US and Europe for purchases, said Balakrishnan. The company gets almost 90 per cent of its sales from North America and Europe. It aims to more than double domestic revenue to 5 per cent of total sales, he said.