HGS Acquires Digital Consulting Firm Element Solutions

Hinduja Global Solutions Limited (HGS), through a subsidiary, is acquiring a controlling stake in Element Solutions, a digital consulting firm and cloud managed services company that works closely with Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Salesforce.

Hinduja Global Solutions UK will pay US$5 million for a 57 percent equity stake in the company. The transaction is expected to close within two weeks.

Element Solutions provides digital strategy and solutions in customer digital experience, data driven marketing, and cloud managed services areas, the company says. The company supports more than 35 Fortune 500 brands, concentrated in the healthcare, manufacturing, and retail industries.

HGS says the deal will strengthen the buy-side portfolio of its digital services division, HGS Interactive (HGSi). The acquisition will add new capabilities and expertise in customer digital experience and digital marketing, the company said. It will also bring together a complementary client base across sectors and add significant onshore presence for the division.

Growth Plans

Once the acquisition is concluded, HGS says it will add more than 75 employees, including strategic thinkers, digital marketers, user-centric designers, software engineers, and developers. Thirty-three of those will be in the US with the rest based in India.

HGS’ CEO Partha DeSarkar says the deal is key to the company’s strategy to drive digital-led transformation for the company’s clients. “The investment in Element Solutions expands on this strategy and helps position us as an end-to-end digital transformational leader who can impact the entire customer lifecycle for brands," he said.

HGS, which has more than 46,000 employees spread across seven countries, has had an eye on strategic investments recently. The company bought AxisPoint Health for $14 million and is looking to South America and Eastern Europe for further deals, according to some reports.