Wipro buys out European firm for $53M

By agencies   |   Friday, 02 June 2006, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Wipro Technologies, the global services of Wipro Ltd., has acquired Europe-based retail solutions provider Enabler for $53 million in an all-cash deal, a top company official said here Thursday. The transaction, however, includes earn-outs of Enabler over the next two years. The integration will be completed by this month-end and its projected revenues will be taken into Wipro Technologies division account from July 1. For the calendar and fiscal year 2005, Enabler posted revenue of $39 million (euro 30 million). Being a privately held firm, its net margins were not made public, despite a track record of profitability and being in line with the industry leaders in the IT services space. The 10-year-old Enabler, with delivery centres in Portugal and Brazil, was spun out of Modelo Continente, a leading Portugal retailer and a division of Sonae group. As a preferred integrator of Oracle Retail (Retek) solutions, Enabler provides consulting services to global retailers in Europe, Middle East and Latin America. Wipro intends to retain Enabler's identity to leverage its brand reputation in the markets it operates. "Enabler is a leading specialist in consulting and implementation of integrated solutions for retail systems. Its customer base has a dozen Retek users for retail formats such as food, fashion and DIY (do-it-yourself), covering Oracle Retail modules," Wipro Technologies president Sudip Banerjee told reporters. Post-acquisition, about 300 employees of Enabler will join the 2,500-strong Wipro retail solutions division to serve the former's customers in Portugal, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Britain in Europe, besides Middle East, Latin America and Britain. "With the retail industry emerging as one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the enterprise solutions market, the acquisition makes a strategic fit for us in the light of Enabler's track record in retail domain consulting and package implementation," Banerjee said. As the fifth overseas acquisition in as many months, Enabler will enable Wipro to extend its geographic footprint into Europe and Latin America. As a subsidiary, its operations will be integrated with the IT services division and expanded with additional investments and hiring in the coming months. Enabler CEO Antonio Murta will be joining Wipro Technologies as vice-president after the transaction is completed.