Axon buy: Traders fear bid war, Infosys confident

BIG BUY: On Monday Infosys said it had agreed to buy the British consultancy for £407 million ($753 million).

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Chennai: Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest software services exporter, was better positioned than others to acquire UK's Axon Group because it had management backing for its offer, its Chief Financial Officer said on Wednesday.

Nasdaq-listed Infosys on Monday said it had agreed to buy the British consultancy for £407 million ($753 million), in a deal that values Axon at 600 pence a share, a 19.4 per cent premium over Friday's close of 502.5 pence.

Traders have said there were worries of a bidding war.

"In a service business, management commitment and backing of a deal is very important... the management is fully backing (our) proposal," V Balakrishnan told Reuters at an analyst meeting in Chennai.

"What will happen I don't know. We will wait and see, but I think we are better positioned because of all this," he said, but declined comment on whether Infosys will revise its offer price in case of a counter bid.

Altium Securities said in a note on Tuesday in London it believed there was room for a counterbid closer to 700 pence.

Balakrishnan also said the global business environment was challenging, though pricing remained stable.

"There is still a lot of negative news coming from the environment... (but) there is no dearth of opportunity."

"Our guidance, we should be able to achieve," he said.