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Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a leading provider
of global IT and business process outsourcing services, has
signed a definitive agreement to acquire NJ-based marketRx,
Inc., a leading provider of analytics and related software
services to global life sciences companies in the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices segments.
Cognizant will pay approximately $ 135 million in cash, which
will be funded from current cash reserves.
This acquisition strengthens Cognizant's full-suite of offerings
across all areas of the life sciences value chain — from
research and development and manufacturing to sales and
marketing operations. marketRx combines analytics, market
research and software services to provide scalable, web-based
solutions in three functional areas for life sciences companies:
sales management and operations, brand marketing and product
management and market research. marketRx brings an impressive
client base to Cognizant representing a total of 75 life
sciences customers, including all of the largest 20
pharmaceutical companies and four out of the top five biotech
companies.
"We welcome the marketRx employees and
management team to Cognizant. This acquisition expands our
capabilities in the analytics segment and broadens our service
offerings for the life sciences industry, while providing strong
synergies with our existing business intelligence/data
warehousing and CRM services," said Francisco D'Souza, president
and CEO, Cognizant.
"marketRx's proven global delivery model for
analytics, deep domain knowledge and proprietary analytics
software platform have helped the company build an impressive
client list in the life sciences market and yield strong organic
growth. We expect to leverage these assets to establish a
pre-eminent position in the fast-growing analytics market both
in life sciences and other industries."
"We are very pleased to join the Cognizant
family. The combination of our market leading position in the
life sciences analytics segment and Cognizant's strengths as a
top global services player will allow us to expand our
relationships with our life sciences clients by providing them
with a broader range of outsourced services, and conversely
enables us to extend our capabilities to other vertical
markets," said Jaswinder (Jassi) Chadha, founder, president and
CEO, marketRx, Inc.
"We found a great cultural fit between both
companies in terms of entrepreneurial spirit, commitments to
client satisfaction, strong client retention record, proven
high-touch onsite/offshore model and overall vision for the
future of the global services industry."
Subject to the satisfaction of certain
closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the
fourth quarter of 2007.
With over 430 employees in the US, India and
Europe, marketRx enables customers at global pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies to improve the effectiveness of their
sales and marketing operations.
Sequoia-backed marketRx has received many
notable industry recognitions since its inception in 2000
including Deloitte's fastest growing technology companies in
North America for two consecutive years (2005 and 2006), PwC &
Entrepreneur Magazine's 'Hot 100' fastest growing companies in
the US (2005), Inc.500's 'Fastest Growing 500 companies' (2005)
and SiliconIndia Magazine's list of top 100 technology companies
formed in the US by people of Indian origin".
R Rangaraj
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