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Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH), a leading provider of IT and business process outsourcing services, today announced that it will ring the NASDAQ opening bell remotely from the Company's Chennai, India techno-complex on March 5th at 9:30 a.m. (EST). Cognizant and NASDAQ will co-host two celebrations -- one in Chennai at Cognizant's techno-complex and one in New York City at NASDAQ's MarketSite, 4 Times Square. The market opening will be broadcast live beginning at 9:15 a.m. (EST) and can be accessed online at www.nasdaq.com.
"Cognizant is honored to open the NASDAQ market from India, commemorating our rapid growth as a global services firm since our initial public offering nearly nine years ago and India's emergence as a global leader in the IT and BPO services industries," said Francisco D'Souza, president and CEO of Cognizant. "NASDAQ is recognized as the pre-eminent global electronic stock exchange with the highest financial and corporate governance standards in the world, and we are pleased to be ranked among the world's leading companies in the Nasdaq-100 Index."
"Nasdaq is delighted to be opening the market with Cognizant, the first offshore IT services company to list on our market," said Charlotte Crosswell, Head of NASDAQ International. "Since its listing in 1998, Cognizant became the first offshore IT consulting company to join the NASDAQ-100 Index and has reached impressive milestones. NASDAQ is delighted to be back in India to remotely open the market, and it is an honour to hold the ceremony in Chennai at one of Cognizant's state of the art facilities."
Cognizant listed on NASDAQ in June 1998. Since that time, the Company has become one of the top-tier global IT services firms, surpassing $1.4 Billion in annual revenue in 2006. In 2004, Cognizant was named to the NASDAQ-100 Index, and in November 2006 was selected to join the S&P 500 Index -- the first global offshore IT services firm to achieve this distinction.
The NASDAQ Remote Opening Bell ceremony is a recreation of the daily Opening Bell that takes place in the NASDAQ studio. Both the Opening and Closing Bell ceremonies are broadcast live on NASDAQ's Times Square Tower in the heart of NY and are televised by global television stations. NASDAQ will re-create the MarketSite Opening Bell ceremony from Cognizant's facility in India by displaying the electronic podium and traditionally signing into the market at the event. The Opening and Closing Bell events are symbolic ceremonies that represent the open and/or close of the NASDAQ trading day, which brings together investors and market participants from around the world to trade electronically.
NASDAQ by design is a decentralized electronic market that can be opened anywhere. On average, the NASDAQ processes approximately 20,000 stock market transactions per second and nearly 12 million trades per day. The market open and market close are the busiest times in the trading day, in which NASDAQ's systems handle transaction peaks in excess of 20,000 transactions per second.
Editors note: Broadcast outlets that are interested in obtaining the opening bell can access it via satellite. The entire NASDAQ Opening Bell ceremony live from India can be made available to all local and regional broadcast outlets from 9:00a.m. (EST). to 9:45a.m. (EST). on INSAT 2E/L10 (83 Deg E)/ Downlink frequency 3845 mhz vertical / Symbol rate: 26.043 / Fec 3/4. The feed can also be found on Ascent Media fiber 1623.
About NASDAQ
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, its systems trade more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com/ or the NASDAQ Newsroom at http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom.
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of IT services. Focused on delivering strategic information technology solutions that address the complex business needs of its clients, Cognizant uses its own on-site/offshore outsourcing model to provide applications management, development, integration, and reengineering; infrastructure management; business process outsourcing; and numerous related services, such as enterprise consulting, technology architecture, program management, and change management.
Cognizant has over 40,000 employees who are committed to partnerships that sustain long-term, proven value for customers by delivering high-quality, cost-effective solutions through its development centers in India and on-site client teams. Cognizant maintains P-CMM, SW-CMM and CMMI Maturity Level 5 assessments from an independent third-party assessor and ranked among the top information technology companies in Business Week's Hot Growth Companies. Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100 Index and the S&P 500 Index. Find additional information about Cognizant at http://www.cognizant.com/.
This press release includes statements which may constitute forward- looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed in our most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cognizant undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
FCMN Contact: shoffman@fd-us.com
SOURCE: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
CONTACT: Malcolm Frank, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategy,
+1-617-273-9282, Malcolm.Frank@cognizant.com; or Investors - Gordon McCoun, or
Press - Brian Maddox or Scot Hoffman, scot.hoffman@fd.com, all of Financial
Dynamics, +1-212-850-5617