Cognizant Technologies has agreed to acquire digital engineering firm Belcan of Cincinnati for nearly $1.3 billion in cash and stock, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal would expand the Teaneck-based information technology services provider’s footprint in the aerospace, defense, space and automotive sectors.
Belcan, which has been owned by private equity firm AE Industrial Partners since 2015, employs 60,000 people across 60 locations globally, and some of its clients include Boeing, General Motors, Rolls-Royce, NASA and the Navy.
“We believe that acquiring Belcan will strengthen Cognizant’s position in the sizable and fast-growing (engineering and research & development) services market,” Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar said. “Belcan’s deep engineering capabilities and domain expertise across the aerospace & defense market will be complemented by Cognizant’s scale and own multidecade digital engineering expertise, providing Belcan’s blue-chip client roster access to our advanced AI, cloud and data technologies.”
Kumar continued: “We see the opportunity to immediately accelerate revenue growth and create compelling shareholder value through our combined engineering capabilities. Belcan’s clients would gain access to Cognizant’s full suite of technology services, while Cognizant’s clients across the manufacturing, automotive, energy and high-tech sectors we believe will benefit from Belcan’s engineering skills.”
