Cognizant scouting for insurance BPOs in US, Europe
Having pursued an inorganic route in expanding its operations and global presence by acquiring business process companies in the analytics and consulting fields for a number of years, presently Cognizant Technology Solutions, the US multinational IT services and consulting conglomerate having its headquarters in Teaneck, New Jersey, is learnt to be eyeing BPO firms focused on the insurance vertical in the United States and Europe.
According to a business website report, Cognizant, which is listed with Nasdaq, is considering to buyout BPO firma dealing with back-office functions for the US and European customers, especially in the insurance back-up and associated operations. A banker, who is familiar with the developments, said that the initiative is aimed at reinforcing the insurance practice at Congnizant. Thus far, the US multinational was only dedicated to property and casualty insurance sectors.
It has been learnt that the company has been eyeing business process outsourcing firms earning revenues worth anything between $5 and $50 million during the current fiscal. Thus far, Cognizant has been offering front-office and back-office services in the fields including document management, claims processing, policy administration and regulatory, reporting and frameworks solutions and more in the domain of property and casualty insurance. While a spokesperson of the company refused to confirm the development, but said that the IT services and consultancy firm was looking for potential acquisitions all the time with a view to facilitate growth.
It may be mentioned that majority of Cognizant’s over 85,000 workforce are based at 50 different centers in India. Industry experts are of the view that the US multinational BPO and consultancy conglomerate would benefit much from the rapidly growing Indian outsourcing market, which is to the tune of around $60 billion. Since 2005, the company has successfully acquired eight BPO firms that include the program management consultancy, PIPC Group of the UK. Cognizant had acquired PIPC in May 2010 for a sum of around £23 million. Last year, the US multinational had purchased the IT consulting services section of Pepperweed Consulting based in the US – Pepperweed Advisors for an unrevealed sum.