Mumbai, April 27: Capgemini is acquiring IGate Corp for $4 billion, a move that will create a 12.5-billion-euro entity with 1.90 lakh employees.

The Paris-based IT services company will offer a price of $48 for every IGate share, a premium of 4.70 per cent to the closing price of the IGate share on the Nasdaq last Friday.

For Capgemini, which is largely focussed on Europe, the acquisition will give it a better presence in North America, apart from bringing businesses such as application and infrastructure services, BPO and engineering services under its fold.

Further, the transaction will brings clients such as General Electric and Royal Bank of Canada to its roster. Following the buyout, North America will represent close to 30 per cent of the group's combined revenues.

Capgemini will finance the deal through a combination of own cash, debt and equity portion translating into a dilution not exceeding 6 per cent of its share capital.

The companies said their board of directors had unanimously approved the merger agreement and shareholders who held a majority of IGate shares had consented too.

Based in New Jersey, IGate posted revenues of $1.3 billion in 2014 with operating margins at 19 per cent. North America is its biggest market accounting for around 79 per cent of its revenues. This is followed by Europe (14 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (7 per cent).

IGATE was founded in 1996 by two Indians Ashok Trivedi and Sunil Wadhwani. Nearly, half of its 33,000 strong workforce are in India.

IGATE is headed by former Infosys executive Ashok Vemuri. IGATE had acquired Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems in 2011 for around $1.22 billion.

Capgemini Group operates in 40 countries worldwide. It is present in nine cities in India, including Bangalore, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Trichy, Salem, Gurgaon and Hyderabad.

The combination of IGATE and Capgemini will see the merged entity's operating margin coming above 10 per cent and the combined group will pass the landmark of 100,000 employees this year.

"IGATE is a leading company that perfectly fits our strategic ambition. It will give us a new status in the American market," Capgemini chief executive Paul Hermelin said.

"This will also give to the group's Indian operations a new scale, allowing us to compete on a par with the best US-based and India-based companies," he added.

"In Capgemini, we have found a partner which will advance our ability to innovate and build industry solutions that will enhance the value proposition we bring to our clients," said Ashok Vemuri, the CEO of IGATE.