We see strong long-term revenue growth: Cognizant's Malcolm Frank

Soon after announcing the acquisition, Cognizant's Malcolm Frank, executive VP (strategy and marketing) told TOI that TriZetto was a great deal for the company and investors. Excerpts: '

Why this acquisition?

Healthcare has been the strongest practice for us and a unique differentiator for us for several years now. Given the changes in the US healthcare scenario and in the technology, we felt TriZetto was a unique opportunity.

Will you revise your guidance post this acquisition?

We see tremendous long-term revenue synergy through this acquisition. We are not making any changes to our guidance as of now, but we see very strong long-term revenue growth.

Why did you choose to borrow for this deal?

At the current situation, we felt this was the best combination. I don't think one should read too much into the debt funding.

Do you see a cultural clash in the deal, especially because annual revenues per TriZetto employee is nearly $182,703 while that of Cognizant is only $51,800?

No. We examined the cultural issues very carefully. At Cognizant, we are quite passionate about our culture. We have been working closely with TriZetto for some time and we know the company and their associates quite well. We have strong operating relationship with Trizetto.

Cognizant always acquired small firms. This is a big bang one. Was this by choice?

For several years, we have been considering something of this scale. We told ourselves that we should build leadership in a vertical, then look at large acquisitions. We believe that we have the right company now.