The acquisition, announced as part of its global expansion strategy on Thursday, has been funded directly by the parent company and not through its Indian subsidiary, Oracle Software India.

EWI will thus effectively become the second Oracle entity in India and will continue under a new name, Oracle Solutions Services. It will be headed by managing director Vibhakar Bhushan.

When contacted, Oracle Software India country manager Shekhar Das Gupta refused to divulge the amount spent by Oracle towards the acquisition of the company.EWI has a software development facility in Bangalore. It has been executing software development projects for Oracle Software India since its inception and has considerable expertise in Oracle applications. "After the acquisition, it will primarily address the European market forconsulting services built around Oracle applications," said Das Gupta.

The acquisition will strengthen Oracle's activities in Europe and will further enhance the consulting services that Oracle Software India has been undertaking for the last four years with several Fortune 500 companies, the company said in a press statement here.

The new Oracle venture will add to the already existing operation in India and will focus on providing implementation services and consulting for Oracle's activities. "The acquisition will give us a major opportunity to use the offshore consultancy concept to provide even greater value-addition services to the market. We will be able to increase our productivity," said Das Gupta.