Bangalore, July 26, 2007 - Infosys Technologies has signed a seven-year $250-million outsourcing contract with Philips Electronics, besides acquiring three of its back office units in India, Poland and Thailand for $28 million.

The contract is said to be among the largest finance and accounting BPO engagements from India and will expand Infosys' global network, particularly strengthening its European operations.

According to an Infosys release, the software giant will gain more than 1,400 Philips employees from the Dutch company's BPO units, adding diverse language capabilities, technical expertise and domain knowledge.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by October this year. Revenues too would start flowing from the acquired units from the same month.

Mr Kris Gopalkrishnan, chief executive of Infosys, said that the acquisition would help the software giant to expand its operations in important markets of Europe.

As part of the seven-year agreement, Philips would enter into a multi-year contract with Infosys BPO to provide finance and accounting services besides processing of purchasing orders.

The Indian firm would also acquire three shared service centres of the Dutch company.

Global corporations require transformation partners such as Infosys to enhance their competitiveness in the flat world, he added.

Infosys Technologies was excited to partner Philips Electronics to take the F&A and procurement functions to the next level of transformation.

Speaking about the arrangement, Mr Gerard Ruizendaal, chief strategy and group controller for Royal Philips Electronics, said that Infosys had demonstrated a willingness to invest in people with a strong HR process, better solution quality, ability to leverage end-to-end process improvements and a robust risk mitigation and transition plan.

Mr Amitabh Chowdhry, CEO, Infoys BPO, added that the deal would enhance the company's capabilities, making it one of the top five players in the finance and accounting outsourcing space in the world.

"The deal size is approximately $250 million over seven years," Infosys' chief operating officer, Mr SD Shibulal told PTI.

"We are acquiring three shared service centres located in India, Poland and Thailand from Philips. We are making a one-time payment of $ 28 million and acquiring the three centres on as-is-where-is basis."