Cognizant acquires consulting company

BANGALORE, INDIA – Cognizant Technology Solutions  announced Monday that it has acquired Fathom Solutions, a Chicago-based consulting company, for $19 million in cash and stock.

Cognizant, an IT services company in Teaneck, New Jersey, also agreed to pay up to $16 million in unspecified contingencies payable in cash two years from closing, the company said.

Fathom, with a staff of 120 employees, is focused on the telecommunications and financial services industries. The acquisition strengthens Cognizant’s vertical practices principally in telecom but also in financial services, said Lakshmi Narayanan, president and chief executive officer of Cognizant.

“Across our industry practices, clients are looking to do a broader range of services with Cognizant,” said Narayanan. “This acquisition both strengthens our telecom practice and gives our clients access to a broader range of services including IT strategy, process design, program management, and systems integration.”

Cognizant offers services to its clients both offshore from India and on-site in the U.S. and Europe. About 70 percent of its 17,000 employees are based at the company’s development centers in India, while the remaining 30 percent work from the company’s offices or client sites in Europe and the U.S. “Activities such as IT strategy, process design and program management typically have a higher on-site component than do systems integration, development and maintenance services, as well as infrastructure management and business process outsourcing,” Narayanan said.

Cognizant’s strategy is to acquire companies that provide vertical domain expertise, technology skills or expanded geographic presence, Narayanan added.