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Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Computers, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. - A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , April 21

SATYAM Computer Services Ltd has decided to acquire Europe-based Citisoft, a $16-million specialised business and systems consulting firm focussed on the investment management industry.

Announcing this here on Thursday, Satyam Chairman, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, said Citisoft, with multinational operating presence in London, Boston and New York, has built reputation as a leading specialist investment management consulting firm with one of the largest concentration of business consulting expertise.

Citisoft has a client base with over 75 per cent of the top 50 global investment management companies. It has an employee base of 63 consultants with an average industry expertise of 15 years, he said.

The consideration for the acquisitions consists of a guaranteed payment of $23.2 million payable over a three-year period and an additional performance-based payment of up to $15.5 million to be paid over the same period, Mr Raju said.

Citisoft would operate as a subsidiary of Satyam and be a part of Satyam's Financial Services Group (FSG), which has made significant progress and has been at the forefront of business transformation initiatives over the past two years across the entire value chain in the securities and capital markets industry.

"A few of FSG's strategic clients were instrumental in introducing Citisoft to Satyam and recommending a strategic relationship between the two organisations with the clear anticipation that they would significantly benefit from the resulting synergy," Mr Raju said.

According to him, the acquisition comes against the backdrop of increasing IT spend in the securities industry estimated at $71 billion in 2004, around 10 per cent of which could be attributed to the investment management segment of the industry.

"The acquisition will enable Satyam to build a unique position in the financial services sector and facilitate it to expand its footprint amongst European asset management companies by utilising the synergies between Satyam's global delivery capabilities and Citisoft's world-class industry expertise," said the Satyam President, Commercial and Healthcare Business, Mr Ram Mynampati, who would be taking over as the Chairman of Citisoft.

Commenting on the acquisition, the Citisoft Founder and Executive Director, Mr Jonathan Clark, said, "The successful closure of this acquisition represents new and exciting opportunities for our clients, our employees as well as for the future of the industry."

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