Sapient CEO says company not for sale now

By Vivek Seal

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Sapient Corp. (SAPE.O: Quote, Profile, Research), a possible takeover candidate in many analysts' view, is not for sale now, chief executive of the U.S.-based business and technology services consultant said.

"We don't see a strategic advantage in being really big and to go and merge with somebody or get acquired or acquire," Alan Herrick said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Analysts see Sapient as a takeover target as a major part of its revenue is now from online interactive services like Web site design, e-commerce platforms and media ad placement, a sector that has seen several recent acquisition deals.

The large deals include Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) $6 billion proposal for aQuantive Inc. AQNT.O and Google Inc.'s (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) $3.1 billion offer for DoubleClick Inc.

Herrick sees opportunities from the consolidation in the interactive services sector as he is targeting a 30 percent annual growth at the company's existing operations.

It opens up more room for Sapient to work independently, at least in the short run, as some players are acquired by the users of their services, leaving no "neutrality," he said.

"You have a biased owner of those platforms whose interest is in the outcome of where those ad placements are."

Herrick said aQuantive's services may weaken after its acquisition as "Microsoft is more interested in their (aQuantive's) technology than the services side."