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Coforge to acquire AI-Native Encora in $2.35bn Deal
GREATER NOIDA: Coforge has struck one of the biggest deals in Indian IT services this year, signing definitive agreements to acquire Silicon Valley born Encora for an enterprise value of $2.35 billion. Coforge will acquire the business from Advent, Warburg Pincus and other minority shareholders, subject to customary regulatory approvals. The move catapults Coforge into the big league of AI led engineering firms with global scale.
Encora is no ordinary tech services company. Built with AI at its core, the firm operates at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, cloud and data, helping Fortune 1000 enterprises and digital natives modernise, automate and build smarter products. Its capabilities span agent native product engineering, intelligent process design, core modernisation, data readiness, AIOps and AI foundations. Encora is also the creator of AIVA, one of the industry’s early composable agentic AI platforms, and works closely with hyperscalers including AWS, Microsoft, Google and Snowflake.
Once combined, Coforge and Encora will form a technology services powerhouse with revenues of around $2.5 billion. AI led engineering, cloud and data services alone are expected to generate close to $2 billion by FY27. Product engineering is projected to cross $1.25 billion, cloud services about $500 million, and data engineering over $250 million.
The acquisition also reshapes Coforge’s sectoral and geographic mix. Its Hi Tech and Healthcare verticals are expected to scale rapidly, each reaching an annualised revenue run rate of over $170 million. The deal significantly strengthens Coforge’s near shore delivery presence in Latin America, backed by a specialised talent base of more than 3,100 AI and engineering experts, while sharply expanding its footprint across the western and mid western United States.
Encora is forecast to deliver FY26 revenues of $600 million with an adjusted Ebitda margin of around 19 percent. The transaction will be funded through a preferential equity allotment valued at approximately $1.89 billion, resulting in Encora shareholders holding about 20 percent of Coforge’s expanded share capital. The combined entity is expected to operate at a 14 percent Ebit margin, with the acquisition turning earnings accretive in FY27.
Calling the deal transformational, Coforge chief executive officer Sudhir Singh said the acquisition establishes a strong AI led engineering core underpinned by data and cloud capabilities, enabling enterprises to turn the promise of AI into measurable outcomes. Advent managing partner Shweta Jalan said Encora has found the right long term partner in Coforge as it enters its next phase of growth.
BDA Partners acted as the exclusive investment banker on the transaction, while JSA and Khaitan and Co represented Coforge and Encora respectively.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
