Infosys Wants U.S. Acquisitions
Author: Dhanya Ann Thoppil</br></br>BANGALORE - Infosys Technologies Ltd. is looking to spend up to $200 million to acquire companies in the U.S. in its bid to secure large government contracts, its chief financial officer said, as the Indian technology firm looks to boost its presence in the world's largest outsourcing market.</br></br>"We have started operations of a new subsidiary in the U.S. Probably we can look at a small acquisition to kick-start it," Chief Financial Officer V. Balakrishnan said in an interview Wednesday at the company's headquarters.</br></br>Unlike its peers, Infosys Technologies, India's second-largest outsourcing firm by revenue after Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., has been maintaining a cautious stance on the global economic recovery. Despite worries over high unemployment in the U.S. and the debt crisis spreading across Europe, the company believes the U.S. market continues to grow and represents opportunities for Indian outsourcing firms. Research firm Forrester Research Inc. expects U.S. business and government purchases of information and technology outsourcing and consulting services to total $389 billion this year.</br></br>The Nasdaq and Mumbai-listed company set up a U.S. unit called Infosys Public Services Inc. last year in a bid to tap into the U.S. government's multi-billion-dollar healthcare and defense markets. Infosys is looking to buy a company which has a license to engage with the federal government, especially in defense projects, it said.