India's Wipro to buy Infocrossing for $18.70/share

BANGALORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indian software exporter Wipro Ltd. (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would pay $18.70 a share to buy U.S. technology services company Infocrossing Inc. (IFOX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and its units in an all-cash deal. Wipro's Chief Financial Officer, Suresh Senapaty, told reporters in Bangalore the deal had an enterprise value of $600 million and was likely to close in the October-December quarter.

The acquisition is the latest in a wave of foreign M&A deals by Indian companies, aiming to penetrate new markets and access the latest technology by buying foreign firms.

Infocrossing, which had revenue of $232.4 million for the 12 months ended March 31, provides infrastructure management solutions, including server management, mainframe outsourcing, network management and security services, New York-listed Wipro (WIT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said in a statement.

"With its unique platform based solutions, Infocrossing also brings in significant expertise in health plan and payer management segments," Sudip Banerjee, president of enterprise solutions of Wipro Technologies, said in the statement.

Ahead of the announcement, shares in Wipro fell 2.6 percent to 457.85 rupees, their lowest close in over a year, in a Mumbai market (.BSESN: Quote, Profile, Research) which fell 1.6 percent.

((Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Reuters Messaging: devidutta.tripathy.reuters.com@reuters.net; +91 22 6636 9031)) Keywords: INFOCROSSING WIPRO/

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