Here is another pointless speculation on possible acquisitions Infosys plans to make.

Infosys is in talks to buy a consulting company in Europe for acquisition, reports Hindu Businessline. The report offers no other information to substantiate its claims. Stories on Infy�s possible shopping spree appear in the business press with the regularity of traffic jams in Bangalore.

Acquisitions are part of the game in IT business. IBM buys a company on an average of one a month. Even smaller outsourcing companies like ACS and CSC have grown through acquisitions.

The Indian companies have the mindset of small businessmen who got lucky and hence prefer to hoard their cash than splurge on growth. Due to their reluctance to buy growth or take chances in other ways, they have lost steam and direction.

Infosys came close to making a sensible buy when it tried to lay its hands on Axon, a SAP consulting firm. But HCL which eyed the same company outbid Infosys by revising its earlier offer.

The HCL story looks good today because of the Axon acquisition which has boosted its enterprise business and �I will take this chance� mindset. Infosys is languishing because its acquisitions are limited to the speculations of business reporters.