ITC shares gain on IT services arm’s deal to acquire Pune-based firm for ₹485 crore

ITC Ltd shares gained on Friday, April 19, after the company announced that its IT services and technology solutions arm has entered into an agreement to acquire a Pune-based technology firm.

In a filing to the stock exchanges, ITC Ltd said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ITC Infotech India Limited, has entered into a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100% stake in Pune-based IT firm, Blazeclan Technologies Private Limited.

The acquisition deal worth ₹485 crore will be completed within six to eight weeks, ITC Ltd said.

ITC Ltd informed the stock exchanges that it expects the acquisition to improve ITC Infotech’s ability to serve clients in a multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environment, with a focus on strengthening the partner ecosystem to enable faster growth.

“The acquisition is expected to strengthen ITC Infotech’s commitment to helping clients navigate their digital transformation journey and deliver business outcomes built on the foundation of strong Cloud capabilities,” ITC Ltd said in a release.

Sudip Singh, managing director and chief executive officer of ITC Infotech, said, “With the proposed acquisition of Blazeclan, we believe that we will be strongly positioned to step up our clients’ digital transformation journey. This acquisition will not only strengthen our capabilities significantly but will enable us to make scalable progress in the cloud space, while providing access to key opportunities to unlock larger business value for our customers.”

The proposed acquisition is expected to be completed within six to eight weeks. The total consideration for the acquisition amounts up to ₹485 crore, which includes contingent consideration dependent on the achievement of specified targets. Through this acquisition, ITC Infotech aims to expand its global footprint by establishing Cloud competency centres in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and India.

Blazeclan, incorporated in 2010, is a born-in-the-cloud consulting company specialising in cloud services across AWS, Azure and GCP. The company has expertise in Cloud Migration, Digital Services, Digital Cloud Consulting and Data Analytics and Insights.

Shares of ITC Ltd closed 1.23% higher at ₹424. apiece on the NSE