China's CDC Software Acquires Indian Outsourcing Firm

In the deal, CDC Software, a unit of CDC Corporation of China, acquired Horizon Companies, an India-based IT outsourcing firm that supplies its Mumbai, India, services to U.S. and Canadian firms through its New Jersey headquarters.

"With the addition of Horizon, we now have over 500 consultants in this line of business," said Rick Marquardt, CDC Software president, in a statement Monday. "We expect to cross-train these consultants in the suite of Ross, Pivotal, and IMI products offered through software."

CDC Software has been on an acquisition tear in recent months, earmarking $212 million in net cash for acquisitions. Last month, CDC acquired JRG Software, which provides on-demand supply chain planning solutions.

Computer Horizons' CEO Shirish Nadkarni pointed out that his firm's 200 IT consultants are experienced with ERP packages including SAP, Oracle, and JD Edwards, as well as with CRM packages like Siebel. In a statement, he said: "Our customers will certainly benefit from the wider range of experiences and depth of resources we can draw upon through CDC Software."

Horizon was founded in 1989. The firm said it has a 17-year track record of profitable operations. Horizon supplies its IT services also to Dendrite International, Emerson Power, Henry Schein, and YSI as well as to privately-held firms like Inductis and Opera Solutions.