Japan''s NEC, HCL Technologies in software joint venture

HCL Technologies Ltd has announced a 49:51 per cent joint venture with NEC Corporation of Japan to provide offshored software engineering solutions to NEC, its subsidiaries and clients around the world.

The areas in which HCL Technologies would provide its expertise range from embedded software, hardware design, network security, R&D, high performance computing, and mobile technology. NEC Corporation and its subsidiary, NEC System Technologies Ltd will have a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture.

The joint venture would enable the two companies to tap combine the strengths of their respective parents — the business and the market reach of NEC and the offshore technology capabilities of HCL. NEC and HCL started working together in 1997 on a system software project. Today the two companies work in areas of mobile technologies, system software, embedded software, network and securities, R&D, security-products and web technologies, among others.

The alliance is a part of NEC's strategy to leverage Indian IT with all its strengths to provide greater value and higher quality of IT products and services to its subsidiaries and their clients globally.

The JV is expected to grow to into a $25-million revenue business in the next three years.

Says Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL and its chairman and CEO, "It has been seven years since we began our association with NEC and today it makes me nostalgic when I think of the multiple success stories that we have with NEC. We were given the letter of gratitude by NEC for our performance in two of their major projects."

"It is a matter of pride for us to work together as partners with NEC and contribute in their growth by providing cost effective solutions in cutting edge technologies for NEC in Japan and for their global market. It is a first JV of its kind where a Japanese technology giant and one of the largest IT groups in India have come together to form a JV focused on Japan business," Nadar added.