Infosys, a global IT services and outsourcing provider, announced this week that it formed a joint venture with Hitachi Ltd., Panasonic Corp. and Pasona Inc., strategically enhancing its presence in Japan.

Infosys first announced in December 2018 that it was acquiring an 81% stake in Hitachi Procurement Service Co. Ltd., a Hitachi subsidiary that handles indirect materials purchasing for the Hitachi Group, a Tokyo-based technology company with US$88.4 billion in revenue.

The joint venture creates a new company called HIPUS Ltd.; Hitachi holds a 15% stake in the new firm, while Panasonic and staffing firm Pasona Group (2168: JP) each hold a 2% stake.

HIPUS Co. Ltd. also appointed Shinichiro Nagagata as CEO of the joint venture. Nagagata previously was representative director of Hitachi Procurement.

“The joint venture, formed by complementary, iconic companies coming together, will accelerate business process transformation leveraging digital procurement platforms for the local and global needs of Japanese corporations,” Infosys stated.

“Infosys will bring its global expertise in procurement processes, consulting, analytics and digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and Robotic Process Automation to the venture,” Infosys stated. “Combined with Hitachi and Panasonic’s knowledge of their procurement functions and local teams, and Pasona’s human capital and BPM (business performance management) networks in Japan, the entity will provide differentiated, end-to-end, efficient and high value procurement capabilities to corporations.” 

The joint venture will be headquartered in Japan and initially include more than 200 employees.