LONDON, UK - Jan. 5, 2011 – Hitachi Consulting, a recognised leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions, announced today it has acquired Sierra Atlantic, a leader in offshore enterprise applications and outsourced product development. The acquisition will significantly expand Hitachi Consulting’s footprint with the addition of offshore Global Development Centres in Hyderabad, India, and Guangzhou, China, along with a best-in-class global delivery model. It will also bring expanded capabilities to Hitachi Consulting’s Oracle business.

Founded in 1993, Sierra Atlantic is a leader in offshore IT outsourcing with approximately 2400 employees worldwide. The company’s headquarters is located in Newark, California, and it maintains operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. With approximately 200 customers across the Fortune 1000 and Small Medium Enterprise (SME) segments, Sierra Atlantic specialises in providing a full portfolio of enterprise application implementation and management services to customers – using Oracle, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Microsoft and Agile – in the discrete and process manufacturing, life sciences, financial services and retail industries. It also provides software development, testing and support services to world-class software companies.

“Hitachi Consulting is committed to aggressively expanding our global business through organic growth as well as large-scale and market-specific acquisitions,” said Phil Parr, President and CEO of Hitachi Consulting. “This very strategic acquisition will increase the depth and breadth of our solutions portfolio to further position Hitachi Consulting as a top-tier IT professional services company. Our companies share some very strong synergies because our industry focus and geographies are well-aligned. Even more significantly, Sierra Atlantic brings very valuable strengths to the table that will allow us to provide our customers with global end-to-end lifecycle support. ”

“Sierra Atlantic is extremely pleased to join a company with the outstanding caliber and deep expertise that Hitachi Consulting holds. With its global brand and rich corporate culture, Hitachi Consulting will make a great home for our employees,” said Raju Reddy, Chairman and CEO of Sierra Atlantic. “We look forward to integrating our experience and business models into a winning combination to provide our existing customers with richer capabilities and help drive new growth.”

Hitachi Consulting already maintains a depth of experience and leadership as an Oracle solution provider with "Partner of the Year" awards in seven of the last nine years. Sierra Atlantic brings a large pool of certified Oracle experts and more than 14 years of experience in providing end-to-end Oracle E-Business Suite solutions including implementations, upgrades, and application management services. The company’s Oracle managed services cover a wide range of application management services and infrastructure. Combined, the companies will offer an expanded set of Oracle solutions, more robust managed services and increased expertise in business intelligence and edge applications – all on a global scale.

“The comprehensive applications management and outsourcing solutions provided by Sierra Atlantic, combined with their global delivery model, will enhance our current services to quickly accelerate the growth of our Managed Services Business,” said Doug Allen, Executive Vice President of Managed Solutions for Hitachi Consulting. “Our combined solutions move us closer to realising our strategic goal of supporting our clients globally with an end-to-end solution including design-build-run and managed services.”

Both companies will utilise their respective business process integration skills to work toward a smooth transition to maintain business momentum, retain personnel and continue the highest quality of client support. The management team of Sierra Atlantic will remain intact and be integral to the success of the newly merged company.

Parr added, “Hitachi Consulting understands that in today’s challenging market we can leverage non-organic growth for our strategic advancement. To further strengthen our position and drive innovative solutions for our customers, we will continue to seek out these types of complementary relationships.”

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About Hitachi Consulting Corporation
As Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Hitachi Consulting is a recognised leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. With a balanced view of strategy, people, process and technology, we work with companies to understand their unique business needs, and to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realise measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.
Hitachi Consulting's client base includes 25 percent of the Global 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement. For more information visit www.hitachiconsulting.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2009 (ended March 31, 2010) consolidated revenues totaled 8,968 billion yen ($96.4 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

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For further information, please contact:
Vanessa Land
Devonshire Marketing
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Email: vanessa[at]devonshiremarketing[dot]com

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