India Consultants Deloitte will provide recommendations on the best practices regarding the acquisition of Patni Computer Systems by Indian information technology firm iGate Corporation.

The two firms are scheduled to meet for the first time before this week ends to talk over the maximization of benefits from their combined line of products and services following its integration January 10, 2011. The leadership meeting later this week at Bangalore will convene 25-30 executives of iGate and Patni from India and overseas.

Surjeet Singh, Patnis chief financial officer, said the two firms plan to deliver their products jointly to the market, called go-to-market strategy, while waiting for the transaction to culminate in March this year as expected.

The merger gave iGate 63% of Patnis total outstanding shares, but Indian Laws require the firm to make an Open Offer to acquire additional 20% of Patnis shares from the open market.

The acquisition of Patni by iGate is dubbed as Indias largest merger between two information technology firms, yet it could also be the most complex, iGates revenue being third only to Patnis.

To ease the process, Patni and iGate plan to create an integration project management office inside these companies with a common steering committee that will consist of 3-5 personnel from both firms.

The steering committee will be tasked to set goals and targets, set timelines, plan activities, and troubleshoot problems.

Patni Computer Systems has over 20 from across the USA, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with offshore development centers in 8 cities in India. The firms clients include more than 400 Fortune 1000 companies.

On the other hand, iGate has its main headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with offshore offices in 16 different countries. It specializes in IT consulting, application development, data warehousing, business intelligence solutions, and other IT services. iGates acquisition of Patni is part of its ongoing aggressive expansion in India.

Source: http://inaudit.com/consulting/deloitte-called-in-as-consultant-to-igate-%E2%80%93-patni-merger-4200/