HCL axiom: To buy European firms, first partner them

The world may have turned into a global village, but there’s still a European way of doing business, and HCL Technologies has taken upon itself to learn that art.

The IT services firm feels the way into Europe is first partnering with a target company before going ahead and acquiring it. And it has established partnerships with two European firms, which could be bought over the next couple of years.

“Cultural alignment is critical in an acquisition in Europe,” Vineet Nayar, vice chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies told HT. “So our decision on acquisitions in Europe has moved from ‘acquire the company’ to ‘partner with the company and then acquire.”

“We have not set any time frame but these partnerships could lead to an acquisition over two or three years,” Nayar said. He refused to give name the companies or acquisition size.

Indian software companies took a severe hit on their revenue pipeline after US — traditionally their biggest market — was hit by recession. Since then Indian software firms have been looking at Europe to diversify their businesses. With Europe now in crisis, companies there are now more open to outsourcing.

“We are at the cusp of a mega-market that was largely closed before the recession, opening up for Indian IT companies,” said Nayar.