Infosys, Liberty Global ink $1.6-bn deal to scale digital entertainment, connectivity platforms

Converged video, broadband and communications company Liberty Global and IT services firm Infosys on Tuesday announced expanding their collaboration to scale Liberty Global's digital entertainment and connectivity platforms in a multi-year deal valued at €1.5 billion (about USD 1.63 billion).

Infosys will provide services to Liberty Global estimated at €1.5 billion over the initial 5-year term and the size of the contract will touch €2.3 billion if extended to 8 years.

The parties have entered into an initial 5-year agreement, with an option to extend to 8 years and beyond.

Under the terms of the pact, senior executives and technology teams from Liberty Global's product, technology development service delivery group, network and shared operations and security groups will transition to Infosys.

The expanded collaboration will create "exciting career opportunities" for over 400 Liberty Global employees joining Infosys, who will benefit from its global scale and reach, according to a statement.

"Infosys will provide services to Liberty Global estimated at €1.5 bn over the initial 5-year term and at € 2.3 bn if the contract is extended to 8 years. The collaboration allows Liberty Global to realise run-rate savings in excess of € 100 million per annum, inclusive of other savings and technology investments," the statement said.

Building on an existing multi-year collaboration which has supported Liberty Global's technology services platforms since February 2020, the two sides will significantly expand the programme, with the Indian IT services major taking over build and operations of Liberty Global's Horizon entertainment and connectivity platforms.

"Liberty Global, one of the world's leading converged video, broadband and communications companies, and Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that they have expanded their collaboration to evolve and scale Liberty Global's cutting-edge digital entertainment and connectivity platforms," the statement said.

By bringing the scale and breadth of Infosys, including technologies such as Infosys Topaz AI offering, the expanded collaboration ensures continued operational excellence, a scalable development engine for new features and capabilities, and efficiencies for Liberty Global.

In addition, Liberty Global is licensing these platforms to Infosys so the digital services provider can offer services to new operators and new markets outside the Liberty Global family.

This will potentially enable millions of new customers, globally, to experience next-generation digital entertainment and connectivity services through Horizon for the first time. Liberty Global will continue to control product roadmaps and retain all intellectual property for the Horizon entertainment and connectivity platforms.

On transition of senior executives and technology teams to Infosys, the statement said they will benefit from global business exposure, scale, and wider career advancement opportunities. They will also play an important role in shaping the future of Infosys' communications, media and entertainment business and add significantly to its engineering capabilities.

"The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals and consultations with relevant Works Councils," it added.

Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, said strengthening and expanding collaboration with Infosys gives the solutions new scale with the ability to reach many more markets and bring positive experiences to more customers.

"And while it produces substantial central cost savings over time, it also provides excellent opportunities for our talent to grow their specialist skills and nurture impactful careers with Infosys. We look forward to working together to accelerate innovation and make our entertainment solutions even more powerful and engaging as new generations of digital-first customers continue to demand more from us all," Fries added.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the company is excited to bring Infosys Topaz to enable transformative AI-first capabilities to complement the cloud-first digital foundation laid for Liberty Global using Infosys Cobalt.

"This will unveil a new chapter in our joint journey of innovation as we reimagine entertainment and the connectivity experience for millions of global consumers. The strength of our global operations will also help the business scale across markets. As we prepare to welcome new talent and teams of innovators to Infosys, we look forward to building on the trust that Liberty Global has in us," Parekh said.