Cognizant to raise digital stakes with Mirabeau acquisition

IT services major Cognizant to expand digital focus with Mirabeau acquisition

Disruptive technology-related acquisitions seem to be the latest flavour for the Indian IT services industry. IT major Cognizant, which has majority of its people based out of India, has announced the acquisition of digital marketing and customer experience agency, Mirabeau BV for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is expected to boost Cognizant’s digital business capabilities and expand its hold in the European markets, where Mirabeau is said to have a strong presence.

India’s two IT services majors Infosys and Wipro too have been on a buying spree for some time now, with Wipro recently announcing its biggest ever acquisition of cloud services player Appirio, for a whopping $500m and Infosys announcing acquisitions of the likes of Skava, Noah Consulting and Panaya over the last two years.

It is a time when enterprise customers in the US and European markets are making strategic investments around omni-channel customer experience and digital marketing, to drive business growth. So it is assumable that Indian IT companies that get majority of business from these two regions would be looking at increasing their stakes in the new technology domains.

With the acquisition, around 260 specialists will become a part of Cognizant’s digital business practice, as per a statement released by the company.

"The future of the digital economy will be built on experiences consumers have as they bank, stay healthy, insure their families, and move through the interconnected world. Companies in consumer-facing sectors are increasing their investments in interactive solutions to provide better, more personalized experiences to their customers," said Santosh Thomas, President, Global Growth Markets, Cognizant, in the press statement.

The acquisition marks the changing demands of the IT services industry. As is evident from the quarterly results of the IT companies, business from traditional services is slowing down, so there is a sense of urgency to open new revenue streams. Also, as there is likely to be more uncertainty around business engagements in the US market after Trump takes over as president, Europe could become an attractive alternate market. It is anyway clear that new technology-related acquisitions will be a preferred strategy for these companies as they try to stay relevant in a changing business environment.