Mumbai: Wipro Ltd, the country''s third largest software services firm, is planning acquisitions in Germany and Canada to boost growth in those markets.

Germany is an "important growth market," for the company and hence the decision to invest there, Wipro chairman Azim Premji said. "We are also making investments in Canada as we are late starters there," he added.

"We are looking at inorganic growth (through acquisitions) in Germany as well as in Canada", he said after announcing the company''s first quarter results.

Premji said the company is making additional investments in the Middle East, another important growth market. Wipro, he said, wants to drive growth above the industry rates and maintain margins at the top end of the respective segments.

"To achieve this we have been focusing on both organic and inorganic investments and our endeavour is to continue with this strategy," he said.

While the business environment continues to be robust even with the company''s existing clients, he said, "We are investing in newer markets and service lines to drive growth and that combined with our focus on driving operational improvements will help us achieve our vision of global leadership."

Wipro''s IT services business continued to witness broad-based growth, across verticals, geographies and service lines. The growth in revenues was primarily driven by strong volume growth across our business units, Premji said.

Wipro''s differentiated services, technology infrastructure services and package implementation grew by over 50 per cent year-on-year, while its BPO and testing services delivered growth in excess of 40 per cent YOY, he said.

Amongst verticals that saw strong growth are finance solutions, telecom service, manufacturing and technology, media and transportation. Wipro said new client additions continued to be robust with the first quarter wins in BPO, package implementation and technology infrastructure services, including a multi-year deal of $130 million.

Wipro expects stronger performance in the quarter ending September 2007, with revenue from global IT services business of approximately $777 million.

"Wipro''s global brand campaign on applied innovation is the manifestation of our ''applying thought'' credo in our global IT business. It is how Wipro infuses newer ideas and newer ways of doing things into the business ecosystem and improves outcomes for our customers in the areas of cost and productivity Improvements, global delivery and collaboration, faster time to market and measurable business results - often without major disruptive change," Premji said.

Wipro, in collaboration with IT Association of America, International Association of Outsourcing Professionals and Forbes will host the Global Applied Innovation Awards for Business Excellence this year, to recognise innovations that maximise business impact in large corporations, Premji said.