Infosys surges to $201 on back of strategic alliance with Aetna
(Thursday, November 18, 1999)
Our Corporate Bureau in Mumbai-bs
The Infosys ADR surged to a new high to $201 on the Nasdaq yesterday, powered by an initial surge in technology stocks and a deal with financial services company, Aetna.
At 10 pm Wednesday night (11 am Eastern time in the US), the Infosys ADR was trading at $201, reflecting a 9.09 per cent gain ($16.75) over the previous close of $184.25. This translates into a market cap of $13.294 billion. About 52,400 ADRs had been traded.
However, the ADR slid to $195 at 10.40 pm.(noon, US time), up 5.83 per cent over the previous close.
Meanwhile, Infosys announced a strategic relationship with managed healthcare and financial services company, Aetna, wherein Infosys is to support the latter's e-Business and 'Information Cyber System', a release posted on the Nasdaq site said.
Infosys will support Aetna's off-shore initiatives and assist the company in transforming itself into an e-Business enterprise, the release said.
``With the challenges we are facing in obtaining people with unique skills coupled with the magnitude of our internal development requirements in transforming Aetna into an e-Business company, we needed to partner with a large, competent and quality-oriented company,' stated John J. Brighton, Corporate Chief Information Officer with Aetna, Inc. After six months of evaluation and a short list of three companies, Aetna management chose Infosys as its long-term partner," the release added.
"The benefit of having the Infosys people with the skill set we need allows Aetna to invest its cost savings in faster implementation of our e-Commerce and e-Health infrastructure,' concluded Brighton.
"Our partnership with Aetna Inc. and the opportunity to assist them in this pivotal transition is an exciting and rewarding one for Infosys,' commented Phaneesh Murthy, Head of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Infosys. ``Deploying our unique combination of expertise and the Infosys Global Delivery Model will enable us to rapidly deliver on the objectives Aetna has established and to assist them in gaining additional efficiencies as an e-Business company,' observed Murthy in the release. |
