Infosys bags Philips contract and three of its back-office units

Mumbai: Infosys Technologies Ltd. has signed a $250-million outsourcing contract with Royal Philips Electronics and bought three back-office centres of the Dutch firm in a deal that would extend its presence in Europe.

Infosys said the acquisition, which it expected to be completed by October, would cost it $28 million.

The Indian IT major said it would take on 1,400 employees from the Philips centres in India, Poland and Thailand.

Nasdaq-listed Infosys is scouting for acquisitions in "all geographies" to expand its overseas footprint, S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director of the company, said.

He said it has started investing in Japan, China, Europe, Australia and the US in order to fill gaps in their services offerings.

He said the company is looking at acquisitions to fill gaps in its services as well as accelerate growth in certain geographies where Infosys has less presence. "There is always something being evaluated (potential acquisitions)", he said.

Infosys Technologies, the country''s second-largest software exporter, had cash and cash equivalent reserves of $1.6 billion (Rs6,442 crore) as of June 30 this year.

Infosys had a total head count of 75,971 as of June 30. The company said it plans to hire 26,000 people for the whole of 2007-08.

Infosys has a very strong foundation, a very good set of employees and customers, and tremendous brand equity and "This helps expand our operations in an important market like Europe," he said.