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S. Gopalakrishnan, Infosys CEO: Axon Group acquisition will add strength and value.

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:August 26, 2008 Become a writer!

Infosys Technologies said on Monday it had agreed to buy British consultancy Axon Group Plc for £407m (US$753m) as India’s second-biggest software services exporter looks for growth beyond an uncertain U.S. market. The deal is to be completed by November 2008. Infosys said the acquisition would “accelerate the achievement of some of Infosys’ current strategic corporate objectives, including the continued expansion consulting capabilities”. Founded in 1994, Axon today has offices in the UK, North America, Malaysia and Australia. For the year ended December 31, 2007, Axon reported profit after taxation of £20.2 million (Rs 1.6 billion) on revenues of £204.5 million (Rs 16.6 billion).
CEO of Infosys, Kris Gopalakrishnan said, “We are excited about this acquisition. The strategic combination of our groups will accelerate the realization of our common aspirations – that of becoming the most respected provider of business transformational services in the global market place. We hold the management and employees of Axon in high regard and look forward to welcoming them to the Infosys Group.”

”They wanted to enter Europe in a big way, and probably this is the reason why they have paid a higher premium,” said R. K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund in New Delhi. Mark Hunter, Donald Kirkwood and Paul Manweiler, three of the key founder of Axon, have irrevocably undertaken to vote in favor. Commenting on the acquisition, Roy Merritt, non executive Chairman of Axon said “The board has taken the decision to recommend the acquisition by Infosys after careful consideration. Axon has successfully implemented its strategy to become one of the largest consultancies in the world focused exclusively on SAP and has generated a significant increase in shareholder value over the past five years. Against the background of the global economic environment and increasing consolidation in the IT services industry the combination with Infosys represents a compelling proposition. The offer from Infosys represents an attractive cash premium and provides certainty of value today for Axon shareholders. We are therefore unanimously recommending the offer to shareholders.”

ABN AMRO Corporate Finance Limited, a subsidiary of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., is acting as financial adviser to Infosys. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is an authorized agent of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

Profile:

S. Gopalakrishnan
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Infosys Technologies Limited

S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris to his colleagues) is one of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited. As Chief Executive Officer, he plays a key role in defining the company strategy and in using technology and innovation continuously to maintain its leadership of the industry.

On June 22, 2007, Kris took over from Nandan M. Nilekani as the CEO and Managing Director of Infosys Technologies Limited. Kris previously served as Chief Operating Officer (since April 2002), and as the President and Joint Managing Director (since August 2006). His responsibilities included Customer Services, Technology, Investments and Acquisitions.

Kris’ initial responsibilities at Infosys included management of design, development, implementation and support of information systems for clients in the consumer products industry in the US. Between 1987 and 1994 he headed the technical operations of KSA/Infosys (a joint venture between Infosys and KSA at Atlanta, USA) as Vice President (Technical). In 1994, Kris returned to India and was appointed Deputy Managing Director of the company.

Kris is currently the Chairman of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), Kerala, and Vice Chairman of the Information Technology Education Standards Board (BITES) set up by the Government of Karnataka. He is on the board of directors of the National Internet Exchange of India. Kris currently chairs the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Apex Council on Services. He is also a member of ACM, IEEE and IEEE Computer Society.

Kris holds M. Sc. (Physics) and M. Tech. (Computer Science) degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He began his career with Patni Computer Systems (PCS), Mumbai as a software engineer in 1979 and quickly rose to become an assistant project manager by 1981. His seminal contribution during his stint at PCS was the development of a distributed process control system for controlling LD converters at Rourkela Steel Plant.

Profile:

Roy Merritt
Non-executive Chairman
Axon Group Plc
Roy Merritt is Axon’s non-executive Chairman, having joined Axon’s Board on 22 March 2004 as a non-executive Director.
Roy is a Director of Amadeus Capital Partners, the leading European venture capital firm, where he focuses on investments in telecommunications and technology growth companies. He was previously managing partner of DB Capital Venture Partners, director of Providence Equity Partners and served as Chief Financial Officer for Esprit Telecom Group Plc. Roy also served with Apax Partners, Security Pacific Hoare Govett and started his career at McKinsey & Company Inc.
Roy brings to Axon extensive corporate finance and mergers and acquisition experience. He received an MBA from INSEAD. He is also a non-executive director of a number of private companies as part of his role with Amadeus. Roy is 43.

About Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Infosys defines designs and delivers IT-enabled business solutions that help Global 2000 companies win in a Flat World. These solutions focus on providing strategic differentiation and operational superiority to clients. With Infosys, clients are assured of a transparent business partner, world-class processes, speed of execution and the power to stretch their IT budget by leveraging the Global Delivery Model that Infosys pioneered. Infosys has over 94,000 employees in over 40 offices worldwide. Infosys is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index. For more information, visit www.infosys.com.

About Axon Group Plc

Axon is a business transformation consultancy that designs, implements and supports solutions to complex business issues faced by multinational organizations that have chosen SAP as their strategic enterprise platform. Axon has approximately 2,000 employees. Its professionals specialize in the delivery of change through technology enabled transformation programs. Axon’s consultants bring in-depth industry expertise alongside best practice functional knowledge to address the strategic, operational, information management and organization effectiveness Challenges faced by organizations today. Axon is recognized for its ability to help clients define more ambitious strategies, build more effective organizations and shape more successful futures. Founded in 1994, today Axon has offices in the United Kingdom, North America, Malaysia and Australia.