KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd has leveraged well the various acquisitions it had made in the past.
It will continue to look for potential acquisition targets within its three focus areas — automotive and transportation, manufacturing and energy and utilities, said S.B. Ravi Pandit, Chairman and Group CEO, KPIT Cummins.
In fact, between 2003 and 2010, it made eight acquisitions that helped the company grow inorganically.
“The acquisitions should help us grow faster together than individually. That’s the focus and we have succeeded so far,” said Pandit.
For instance, in 2006, it acquired 100 per cent equity of Bangalore-based CG Smith Software Pvt Ltd, which focused on embedded and real-time systems for automotive electronics, for around $6 million. This has grown to nearly $120 million due to the combined strength of KPIT and CG Smith in automotive electronics.
The $309-million Pune-based company has over 8,000 employees. It provides product engineering and information technology services to top global automobile majors, including Daimler, General Motors and Chrysler, he said.
Similarly, in 2009 the company acquired Sparta Consulting of the US for nearly $25 million. This company, along with KPIT’s own practice in SAP, has grown to nearly $120 million, he told Business Line .
“We acquire a company only if it is strategic to us. We will never do an acquisition outside our core focus areas. And it should help us reach new geographies and give us more clients,” he said. For instance, the acquisition of Systime has helped the company enter new geographies such as Brazil and China, he said.
Growth prospects
On the growth prospects this year, Pandit said the company hopes to grow at over 32 per cent. “Things are really looking good for us,” he said.
Pandit said the global automotive industry is facing a slowdown and there is a lot of volatility in the markets. The US market is reviving while Europe is down. In China, there is a slowdown but it is not a negative growth.
“However, there is no impact for us due to this as we cater to the core engineering designs for clients,” he said.
On the BSE, the company’s share price closed at Rs 105.50, up Rs 1.40 over the previous day’s closing price.