Wipro's digital arm to buy Danish design firm

Bengaluru:Global software major Wipro's digital business unit plans to acquire Danish firm Designit in the current quarter for an estimated $94 million (Rs.596 crore) to enhance its digital transformation capabilities.

"Our clients want us to help them transform their businesses and move at the speed of digital. Solving complex challenges starts with design and fuses innovative solutions," the IT firm said in a statement here on Friday.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Designit is an international design firm co-founded in 1991 by Anders Geert Jensen and Mikal Haastrup. As one of the world's largest, privately-held design firms, the Aarhus-based firm delivers product-services in diverse verticals such as healthcare, telecom, banking, automotive and retail.

"By acquiring Designit, we will complement its capabilities with our engineering legacy and bring value to our clients," Wipro Digital vice-president Rajan Kohli said in the statement.

Designit's capabilities in strategic design, user experience, inter-action design and product innovation help people live smarter, healthier and productive lives, he said.

"Designit offers opportunity for us to bring capabilities not found in the design industry, including scale and global reach, a Scandinavian heritage and innovative, award-winning client work," said Kohli.

Post-acquisition, Designit's 300 employees working in nine offices globally will become a part of Wipro's digital arm.

"Design is no longer about beautification. It is about creating a strategic foundation, driving growth and change across industries," said Hallstrup, adding there was a huge market for products, services and systems that need to be simplified and humanised.

"We have much of the technology needed, but we need to design the human experience in ways that make sense to us and for the way we live and work," he said.

Observing that in an age of changing technology and consumer behaviour, Hallstrup said organisations have to exceed user expectations continuously.

"We will offer strategic design process with Wipro Digital's business transformation capabilities. Together, we are building one of the world's most impactful partners for clients," he added.