Phaneesh Murthy looks in a relaxed mood as we walk in to meet him at his office in Whitefield, a leafy part of Bangalore. Having sealed the deal with Patni, the jovial look is understandable. It?s time for iGate 2.0, he tells Darlington Jose Hector in a post-lunch interview.

The acquisition of Patni Computer Systems, one of the oldest software firms in India, must have given you immense satisfaction. The combined entity is a billion dollar baby. Where do you go from here?

It is time to bring on iGate 2.0. That?s next on my agenda. We have to now sit and formulate the plan. I do not want to give too may details about it before I even speak to the new combined management. But I can surely tell you that I am looking at differentiated branding and have laid out the blueprint of what we are calling iGate 2.0.

iGate 2.0, from our perspective, will have certain types of capabilities and solutions, a clearly differentiated brand, ability to generate revenues from a network rather than just directly etc. Today, all revenues come directly. We have very poor alliances and partner strategies. Building a strong partner ecosystem is a priority. We want to become the number one player in at least two verticals and we want to be a serious player in three more verticals, in terms of capability. There is a whole host of things we have laid out. Over the next five years, that will be our goal.

You mentioned that you would want to plumb for differentiated branding. How do you plan to do that? Also, which are the verticals that you are looking at to become the best in? iGate has always been strong in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI).

The iGate brand is a challenger kind of a brand. The Patni brand is a more steady brand. They are one of the oldest IT services companies. My personal bias would be towards the innovation and challenger brand continuing. However, it is okay to be a challenger when you are one-twentieth the size of somebody else. Is it okay to be a challenger when you are one-fourth the size? Those are some of the issues we are going to grapple with over the next week as the management teams meet. We could even start by creating a new logo, if need be. But we have to first discuss and decide. We won?t be too emotional about it. Collective intellectual capital of both the companies has to take a decision, not just one person.

With regard to the verticals, as you said, we have been strong in the BFSI portfolio. I believe we have to capture IP and frameworks. Our model is not as directly co-related to people as everybody else?s. We are talking about IP. We are planning to build solutions.

When did you first identify Patni as a potential target?

About four months ago, when General Atlantic called me. They came and met me in my office in California and recommended the company. In their original proposition, I think they didn?t want to exit if we took over. They would have liked to stay on. But I think the way their shareholding is, Patni?s promoters wouldn?t sell if General Atlantic doesn?t. To make a transaction possible, everybody had to exit.

Were you instantly attracted to Patni or did this take you some time?

We ran all the numbers and did the analysis. I went back to them after about a month and a half and said we would be interested in taking a more detailed look. From public information, you can run some analysis. You can see the fits. Then you have to figure it out from a value perspective and from a due diligence perspective, to know if there are any hidden skeletons. We finally thought Patni was a strategic fit two months ago.

Was there any particular detail that attracted you?

The first detail that attracted me was this play across verticals. The second thing was that this combined company could create the magical billion dollar entity.

The third aspect was that the two companies could end up having two $100 million clients, two $50 million clients and 36 $5 million clients. This would create a very well-diversified client base.

Are investors in the US convinced about the iGate-Patni deal?

Investors in the US are very specialised. For example, high-growth investors, I know, are exiting the stock. They don?t like restructuring plays. There are special players who come during the restructuring time, knowing that they can pick up value as the restructuring gets completed. When we were not doing the M&A, we were considered a high-growth company. New investors will now come in.

You have had a great relationship with Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy when you were heading that company?s sales and marketing division. Are you still in touch? After all, you spent more than 10 years at Infosys.

I have got a few congratulatory messages from some of the Infosys people. I am still in touch with many of them. The media tends to think that there are issues. But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. I have got a good relationship with them.

So, you still call up NR Narayana Murthy when in doubt?

He is more than just Infosys. Of course, Infosys is a great company. But he is the grand old man of the Indian IT industry. I respect him so much. His contribution has been seminal. With regard to calling up, I do not hesitate to call anyone when I am in trouble or need some help. I am quite happy to call someone for dinner and discuss things.

It has been eight years since you moved on from Infosys. Are you satisfied with the journey?

When I took over iGate, it was concentrating on staffing, sub-contracted work etc. I had to change the business model, and had to instil the need to chase the global delivery model, consulting practices, outsourcing etc. iGate was a loss-making company and was a turnaround effort. It was minus 3% six years ago and now it is 20% plus in operating margins. Hence, the journey has been enjoyable.