June 10 Reuters Information technology services provider Cognizant Technologies said on Monday it has agreed to acquire digital engineering firm Belcan for nearly 1.3 billion in cash and stock.

The deal would expand Teaneck, New Jerseybased Cognizant39;s footprint in the aerospace, defense, space and automotive sectors. Cincinnatibased Belcan, which has been owned by private equity firm AE Industrial Partners since 2015, employs 60,000 people across 60 locations globally. Some of its clients include Boeing, General Motors, RollsRoyce, the U.S. space agency NASA and the U.S. Navy.

I39;m excited about the fact that Belkan operates in a sector aerospace and defense which is actually growing faster than the sector we are operating in, which is IT services. So, it gives us an opportunity to evolve on that growth, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar said in an interview with Reuters.

The capabilities that Belcan has which is engineering, and which is in aerospace can actually be crosspollinated into the Cognizant strength area, which is primarily industrial manufacturing and automotive. So, it39;s a crosspollination of services on both sides and the leverage of distribution networks on both sides, Kumar added. … That39;s the synergy we see.

Cognizant said that as part of the deal, Belcan would continue to be led by its CEO Lance Kwasniewski and operate as a unit of Cognizant.

Cognizant, which has a market value of 33 billion, is looking to strengthen its offerings in…