Wipro signed a definitive agreement to acquire Appirio, for $500 Million.
Appirio is a ten year old services firm headquartered in Indianapolis with offices in San Francisco, Dublin, London, Jaipur, and Tokyo with 1250 employees.
The firm counts Stryker, Robert Half, Johnson Controls,Cardinal Health, Coca-Cola, eBay, Facebook, Home Depot, and Sony PlayStation as customers.
Wipro’s acquisition of Appirio will create one of the world’s largest cloud transformation practices, a game changer in today’s as-a-service and digital economy, the company said.
Appirio also brings to Wipro, Topcoder, a leading crowdsourcing marketplace connecting over a million designers, developers and data scientists around the world with customers.
“In an increasingly digital world, as consumer behaviours and expectations continue to be reshapedby experiences, companies are recognising that they need to transform how they engage with customers and employees by leveraging the power of Cloud. Appirio and Wipro are coming together to unlock transformational synergies in the applications space and help enterprises create new business models,” said Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, Chief Executive Officer & Member of the Board, Wipro Limited. Wipro will consolidate its existing cloud applications practices of Salesforce and Workday under the Appirio brand and structure. Chris Barbin, Chief Executive Officer of Appirio, will lead the expanded business.
“When you combine Wipro’s global scale and deep digital focus with Appirio’s transformative worker and customer experience expertise, and best in class team, brand, and partners, you create a formidable force in the industry,” said Chris Barbin, Chief Executive Officer of Appirio. “Together, our aim is to dominate the market and claim the top spots in industry Net Promoter Score, market share, and best places to work.”
“Chris and his team have spent the last decade building Appirio into a global leader delivering amazing customer experiences with Salesforce,” said Marc Benioff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce. “I couldn’t be more proud of Appirio as it joins Wipro, where together they will continue to drive customer success on a much larger scale.”
“As one of our earliest partners, Appirio has played a key role in the Workday Community, and we’re thrilled to see such a great opportunity for the team’s continued growth,” said Aneel Bhusri, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Workday. “With Appirio, Wipro gains an organisation with deep industry expertise and a strong commitment to customer service, dedicated to helping companies take their businesses to the cloud.”
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be closed in the quarter ending December 31, 2016. William Blair & Company acted as financial advisor to Appirio during the transaction.
