HCL Technologies Ltd said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% stake in H&D International Group, an IT and engineering services provider based in the German city of Wolfsburg, for €30 million (around Rs 240 crore or $35 million) in a cash deal which includes earn-outs.
In a stock-exchange filing, HCL said the acquisition was part of its long-term growth plan in Germany. H&D will further enhance HCL’s domain expertise in the global automotive sector, it added.
“Germany is a critical market for HCL as we continue to expand our business in Europe,†said Ashish Gupta, corporate vice president at HCL Technologies. “We feel the German market is at an inflection point and it is the right time for HCL to expand and make significant investments here.â€
HCL Technologies said it will attain significant in-country front office and delivery capabilities through this deal, which it expects to close by the end of August this year/
The H&D International Group is among the largest IT service providers in the German automotive industry. It has operations in over 20 locations globally including Germany, US, Czech Republic and Poland.
As part of the deal, H&D’s existing delivery centre at Gifhorn in Germany will become part of HCL’s global delivery footprint and will focus on IT and engineering services both in Germany and globally.
H&D’s revenue for the financial year ended December 2017 stood at €74.1 million.
HCL’s acquisitions
Founded by billionaire Shiv Nadar, HCL Tech has acquired several overseas assets in the recent past.
In April, HCL and Sumeru Equity Partners, a technology and growth-focussed private equity firm, agreed to jointly acquire US-based Actian Corporation for $330 million (Rs 2,145 crore) in cash.
In the same month, it had agreed to acquire life sciences and consumer services provider C3i Solutions from US-based drug maker Merck & Co. for $60 million (Rs 390 crore) in cash.
C3i Solutions is the business name of Telerx Marketing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co.
In September last year, HCL Technologies acquired Edinburg-based data management firm Datawave for £7 million (about Rs 58.57 crore).
A few months before that, it acquired US-based Urban Fulfillment Services LLC for $30 million (Rs 193 crore).
HCL Technologies’ consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 50,569 crore in the financial year 2017-18 while it posted profit before tax of Rs 11,024 crore.