Indian IT company Wipro has signed a digital and IT partnership deal worth up to $1 billion with German food service distribution company METRO AG.

As a part of the deal, Wipro will take over the IT units of METRO AG, which include METRO-NOM GMBH in Germany and METRO Systems Romania.

Through the partnership, 1,300 plus employees in Germany, Romania, and India will be transferred to Wipro.

The deal value for the duration of the first five years is estimated to be around $700 million. It is intended to be extended for up to four additional years, thereby resulting in a potential spend of up to $1 billion.

Thierry Delaporte – CEO and Managing Director of Wipro said: “Like us, METRO AG is focused on leveraging digital transformation for competitive advantage. Wipro’s role is to make that transformation efficient and effective. Equally important for us is welcoming 1,300 new colleagues to Wipro and ensuring this move is positive and empowering for each of them.

“Wipro and METRO share a great deal in terms of culture and values, which has guided our discussions throughout, and led to the formation of the joint Transformation and Co-Innovation Council.”

Under the terms, METRO AG will be provided by Wipro with comprehensive technology, engineering, and solutions transformation program to help it in becoming a wholesale 360-degree provider in the hotel, restaurant, and catering food industry.

Wipro said that the transformation program will cover cloud, data center services, workplace and network services, in addition to application development and operations to offer an integrated, flexible, and strong digital infrastructure to help drive the transformation agenda of the German food service distribution company.

Timo Salzsieder – CIO of METRO AG said: “We are at a stage where we want to focus on the activities that are going to give us the strongest possible competitive advantage and to do that, we need to be confident in the digital infrastructure that underpins our growth. Partnering with Wipro allows us to simplify and streamline our IT landscape, and critically gives us access to innovation and the best digital practices.

“The Metronomians who are transferring across to Wipro are going to have access to leading edge innovations that will accelerate their careers. I look forward to the continued close collaboration and partnership with the Metronomians who will continue to support our IT needs in 25 METRO countries.”

  Germany, India, IT industry news, METRO AG, Thierry Delaporte, Timo Salzsieder, Wipro