BackWNS Global scouting for acquisitions
The business outsourcing firm plans to build capabilities in healthcare and analytics
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Mumbai: WNS Global services, a Mumbai-based business outsourcing firm, is scouting for acquisitions in India and abroad as it plans to build capabilities in healthcare and analytics.
“We are very proactive in looking for small tuck-in kind of acquisitions to enhance our capabilities in our array of services. We are looking for a number of assets currently," Keshav R. Murugesh, group chief executive officer, WNS said in an interview on the sidelines of the Nasscom Leadership Forum held in Mumbai.
The New York Stock Exchange listed firm operates around 39 centres across 10 countries. It currently has around 200 clients and employs over 30,000 people in India and abroad.
Murugesh said healthcare and analytics are a few of the high growth areas for which the company is looking to build its capabilities.
“There is a new wide space and opportunities which is being created for us. One is healthcare. We can quickly build capabilities within certain niche areas. Rather than going and creating organically, we may look at creating it through very specific mergers and acquisitions," he said.
Another sector that would drive growth for the company is analytics, he added.
Murugesh said that company has enough cash reserves and if need be, it will be ready to “take significant debt" for the acquisitions.
“Our balance sheet looks healthy and we have enough cash reserves. Last year, we have announced a cash share buyback programme that is being implemented," he said.
In 2015, WNS had tied up with NIIT University to start a management programme in big data analytics to create a human resource pool equipped with the skill set to deal with emerging technologies including social, mobility, analytics and cloud, and business process management.
The move was in line with the company’s strategy to build a strong research and development (R&D) team working on data analytics to better serve clients across the globe.
The company gets 30% of its revenue from analytics. In 2014-15, its revenue was $503 million.
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