Aug. 26 – India Inc is on a shopping spree and energy and technology deals seem to be the best buys. Ironically, both these deals are not with American companies, long considered the safest buys by Indian companies investing abroad.
Reuters reported that India's ONGC Videsh is finalizing a 1.4 billion pounds (US$2.6 billion) bid for Russia-focused oil explorer Imperial Energy Corp Plc while AFP reported that Indian outsourcing giant Infosys plans to buy British consultancy Axon Group for US$753.1 million (409 million pounds) in a bid to expand its business advisory footprint.
While until now, ONCG's energy deal was uncertain, sources close to the parties told Reuters that ONGC had received a green light from the Indian and Russian governments to buy Imperial. While the go ahead by Indian and Russian governments will boost the deal, Chinese state-controlled Sinopec, Korean and Kazakh companies are also expected to bid for Imperial.
As for the technology deal, Infosys said the all-cash takeover is expected to be completed by November. Infosys chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnan said he was "excited" about the acquisition and added that the Axon board had already "unanimously recommended" the offer, with its large shareholders and some key employees also supporting the deal.
Founded in 1994, Axon Group provides consultancy services to multinationals and has about 2,000 employees in Britain, North America, Malaysia and Australia.
