Cisco keen on acquiring Indian IT firms
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 04 June 2007, 19:30 IST
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Bangalore: Cisco, the $33.5 billion technology giant, is bullish on making acquisitions in India as it goes about expanding its array of solutions and products, reported The Economic Times. “There is a very strong possibility that we might acquire companies in India in the area of emerging technologies,” Dennis Powell, CFO & Senior VP, Cisco told ET. The company has acquired already 121 companies in its two decade history. Powell claims that 75 percent of these buyouts were successful. Interestingly, none of the 121 acquisitions till now were Indian. Cisco, which has an array of products going beyond its traditional market of switches and routers, has moved into new product area where solutions are built around the Internet protocol network focused on voice, video, data and mobility. In this regard it is looking for Indian companies in which are in early stages of the technology lifecycle. It has committed over $100 million as venture capital investment for India, part of which has so far been invested in four Indian companies, including Indiagames and Bharati Telesoft. An acquisition here fits into Cisco’s strategy of making India its next global hub. In December last year, it set up its second globalization centre in Bangalore. Willim Elfrink, Chief globalization Officer, Cisco told ET, its operations in India are based on three pillars- innovation, talent and growth. The company has already started to move around 20 percent of its top-level staff to India as it looks for new emerging markets for growth. Powell told ET that it has experienced over 30 percent growth in the Indian market for the last six-seven quarters. The company has committed an investment of over a billion dollar in India spread over the next three-four years. This includes a new R&D centre being built at a cost of $750 million. Cisco has joint development centres with Wipro, Infosys, HCL, Satyam and Zensar Technologies and employs around 2,200 people in India in R&D, sales and business support functions. Bangalore: Cisco, the $33.5 billion technology giant, is bullish on making acquisitions in India as it goes about expanding its array of solutions and products, reported The Economic Times. “There is a very strong possibility that we might acquire companies in India in the area of emerging technologies,” Dennis Powell, CFO & Senior VP, Cisco told ET. The company has acquired already 121 companies in its two decade history. Powell claims that 75 percent of these buyouts were successful. Interestingly, none of the 121 acquisitions till now were Indian. Cisco, which has an array of products going beyond its traditional market of switches and routers, has moved into new product area where solutions are built around the Internet protocol network focused on voice, video, data and mobility. In this regard it is looking for Indian companies in which are in early stages of the technology lifecycle. It has committed over $100 million as venture capital investment for India, part of which has so far been invested in four Indian companies, including Indiagames and Bharati Telesoft. An acquisition here fits into Cisco’s strategy of making India its next global hub. In December last year, it set up its second globalization centre in Bangalore. Willim Elfrink, Chief globalization Officer, Cisco told ET, its operations in India are based on three pillars- innovation, talent and growth. The company has already started to move around 20 percent of its top-level staff to India as it looks for new emerging markets for growth. Powell told ET that it has experienced over 30 percent growth in the Indian market for the last six-seven quarters. The company has committed an investment of over a billion dollar in India spread over the next three-four years. This includes a new R&D centre being built at a cost of $750 million. Cisco has joint development centres with Wipro, Infosys, HCL, Satyam and Zensar Technologies and employs around 2,200 people in India in R&D, sales and business support functions.

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