Cognizant to acquire marketRx for $135 mn

Cognizant Technology Solutions, the Nasdaq-listed $1 biliion provider of global IT and business process outsourcing services, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New Jersey-based marketRx, Inc., a provider of analytics and related software services to global Life Sciences companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices segments.

Cognizant will pay approximately $135 million in cash, which will be funded from current cash reserves. Sequoia Capital has been a key investor in marketRx, which employs around 450 people.

According to a statement from Cognizant, this acquisition strengthens Cognizant's offerings across all areas of the Life Sciences value chain - from Research & Development and Manufacturing to Sales & Marketing Operations. marketRx combines analytics, market research and software services to provide web-based solutions in three functional areas for Life Sciences companies: Sales Management & Operations, Brand Marketing & Product Management and Market Research.

marketRx brings an client base to Cognizant representing a total of 75 Life Sciences customers, including all of the largest 20 pharmaceutical companies and 4 out of the top 5 biotech companies.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

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Muthoot goes for a split:Sources

There is action brewing at the closely-held Muthoot Pappachan Group. Sources close to the Kochi-based company claim the family is headed for a split. By way of evidence, they point to the fact that John and Thomas Muthoot - the two brothers who head the group - are in the middle of restructuring the business. When contacted, George Muthoot said, ‘‘There is nothing like that.''

Investment banking sources added that foreign banks and private equity players have also expressed an interest in buying into the financial services and real estate arms of the company.

For banks, Muthoot is an attractive proposition because it has a network of 550 branches in Kerala. This network can be leveraged by them to push products across south India. The company also operates in Maharashtra and parts of North India.

Then there is the real estate business, which sources say, have bought the group significant revenues. The IT parks that the company has built in Kochi are fully sold out and include occupants like Wipro and Cognizant. More recently, it has bid against international developers to participate in the Smart City project in Kochi at an estimated cost of Rs 15 billion.

The group earned a reputation for itself by building on the money lending and chit fund businesses that used to be hugely popular in Kerala. Over the years, it diversified into financial services, real estate, automobile distribution and more recently alternative energy like wind power. The group's turnover is not in public domain.

Read more in The Times of India article.

Indian IT major Cognizant rings NASDAQ bell

Indian IT major Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation rang the NASDAQ opening bell at 9.30 a.m. (8 p.m. IST) Monday simultaneously in Chennai and New York, commemorating "India's emergence as a global leader in the IT and BPO services".

As the Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza pressed a button at its techno-complex in Chennai, India, the bell rang at NASDAQ's MarketSite at Times Square in New York City.

The Opening and Closing Bell events are symbolic ceremonies that represent the open and/or close of the NASDAQ trading day, which brings together investors and market participants from around the world to trade electronically.