Abstract

On December 15, 2008, HCL Technologies (HCL) announced its acquisition of AXON Group Plc (Axon), a UK-based consulting firm, to tap the potential in the lucrative SAP market. The deal, which was hailed as the biggest acquisition in the Indian IT industry, was expected to equip Axon with infra structure management facilities and better application maintenance while it enabled HCL to reduce its dependence on the US and focus on the European SAP market. Analysts, how-ever, felt that successful implementation of the deal would be difficult in the wake of the global economic slowdown. In addition, they ruled out any significant gain in profits from the merger in the absence of a smooth integration. However, HCL AXON said that the growth outlook of the acquisition was positive considering the potential of the SAP market.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Market analysis
• Competition
• Market leader strategy
• and Market entry strategy.

Keywords

Acquisition, SAP, business transformation, ERP, HCL Technologies, HCL AXON, HCL EAS, infrastructure management, application maintenance, global delivery, enterprise application services, Capgemini, Deloitte Consulting, Logical PLC, economic slowdown