Wipro gets WA exposure in I-Tek

Multibillion-dollar Indian outsourcing giant Wipro has made its first serious steps into WA, gobbling up the local IT arm of Canadian utilities and energy specialist ATCO as part of a billion-dollar deal.

ATCO, which runs WA's biggest gas reticulation network as well as infrastructure projects in the Pilbara, will see its IT firm ATCO I-Tek go to Wipro as part of an outsourcing alliance deal estimated to be worth about $1.2 billion over 10 years.

I-Tek has a Perth office, which has been in operation since 2011 and employs about 50, and an office in Alberta, Canada.

Both will now be run by Wipro, with the I-Tek element of the deal worth about $182 million.

I-Tek runs a tier-3 data centre - considered the second-highest level of centres worldwide - in Perth, as well as data, security and disaster recovery services.

The Perth office is also understood to service ATCO's big infrastructure assets such as the Karratha power station and the State's extensive gas pipeline infrastructure, which covers more than 13,000km in Perth and WA regional centres.

It is understood Wipro has given assurance there would be no job losses at the Perth office.

The deal will help the Indian giant, which has a market capitalisation of $24 billion, to expand its presence in Australia and the North West through ATCO's strong positioning in WA.

ATCO makes construction and mining camps, temporary offices and demountable classrooms for the Pilbara. It is also tapping into Australia's LNG developments.

Wipro energy, natural resources and utilities chief executive Anand Padmanabhan said the company had a strong presence in the utilities space in Europe.

"And this engagement provides momentum to our business in Canada and Australia," Mr Padmanabhan said.