PremjiInvest puts $20 mn in HealthCare Global

HealthCare Global Enterprises said that PremjiInvest, a fund sponsored by Wipro's Azim Premji, has invested $20 million in the company.Healthcare Global manages a network of 10 cancer care centres across India.

"The investment would enable us (to) ramp up fast across various geographies besides enhancing our core research initiatives and bring cutting-edge technologies," HealthCare Global's Chairman and CEO Ajai Kumar said in a statement.

PremjiInvest's chief investment officer, Prakash Parthasarathy and Bobby Mustafa have been inducted into the board of HealthCare Global, the company added.

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Premji buys 2% in Koutons for Rs 20 cr

Wipro buys Oki arm for $2-3 million

Bangalore-based Wipro Ltd announced on 28 September it has inked a definitive agreement to acquire Oki Techno Centre Singapore Pte Ltd (OTCS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of OKI Electric Industry Co Ltd.

“Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oki Techno Centre Singapore Pte Ltd, including its intellectual Property Rights in an all cash deal over a period of one year,” a company statement said.Although the company did not mention the financial details of the deal, sources said it has acquired OTCS for $2-3 million.OTCS is a 40-member centre, with customers in Japan in the product engineering space.

Read more in The Livemint article.

Muthoot goes for a split:Sources

There is action brewing at the closely-held Muthoot Pappachan Group. Sources close to the Kochi-based company claim the family is headed for a split. By way of evidence, they point to the fact that John and Thomas Muthoot - the two brothers who head the group - are in the middle of restructuring the business. When contacted, George Muthoot said, ‘‘There is nothing like that.''

Investment banking sources added that foreign banks and private equity players have also expressed an interest in buying into the financial services and real estate arms of the company.

For banks, Muthoot is an attractive proposition because it has a network of 550 branches in Kerala. This network can be leveraged by them to push products across south India. The company also operates in Maharashtra and parts of North India.

Then there is the real estate business, which sources say, have bought the group significant revenues. The IT parks that the company has built in Kochi are fully sold out and include occupants like Wipro and Cognizant. More recently, it has bid against international developers to participate in the Smart City project in Kochi at an estimated cost of Rs 15 billion.

The group earned a reputation for itself by building on the money lending and chit fund businesses that used to be hugely popular in Kerala. Over the years, it diversified into financial services, real estate, automobile distribution and more recently alternative energy like wind power. The group's turnover is not in public domain.

Read more in The Times of India article.

Infosys, Wipro in race to buy US analytics firm: report

Infosys Technologies and Wipro, India's second and third-biggest software firms, are competing to purchase a US analytics firm in a deal valued at up to 160 million dollars, a report said Friday.

The Bangalore-based firms have shown early interest in buying New Jersey-headquartered MarketRX -- the first time they are both targeting the same acquisition, the Economic Times cited unnamed sources as saying.

The eventual purchaser would be able to tap MarketRX's established and potentially lucrative practice in analytics, including people trained in diverse branches such as mathematics, statistics and accountancy.

Read more in The DNA Money article.

Firstsource acquires MedAssist for $330 mn

Mumbai-based Firstsource Solutions, a pure-play business process outsourcing provider, has acquired US-based MedAssist Holding for $330 million (Rs 1,353 crore).The deal is subject to regulatory approval under the US health services research (HSR) statute.It is the second-largest acquisition after Wipro bought out Infocrossing for about $600 million.

Firstsource has raised a debt of $275 million at 2.5-3 per cent above the LIBOR (London Inter-Banking Official Rate) for a five-year term. The balance $55 million will be paid through internal accruals. The company has a cash reserve of $80 million (around Rs 328 crore).

MedAssist is a debt-free company with a top line of $99 million. Its EBITDA margins are in the range of 22-24 per cent.

MedAssist, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky has 1,400 employees and is a pan-American provider of revenue cycle management services to the healthcare industry. It has over 800 clients, including hospitals, large physician groups and alternate site providers.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Firstsource frontrunner for $300mn MedAssit buy

A leading Indian pure-play business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, Firstsource Solutions, has emerged as the frontrunner in the quest to buy US-based healthcare player MedAssist. The deal size, say sources, is close to $300 million (around Rs 1,200 crore). If it takes place, the acquisition will be one of the largest overseas aquisitions after Wipro's buyout of Infocrossing for around $600 million, and the largest in the BPO space.

Sources close to the deal say there's one more serious contender in the race for MedAssist which has revenues of $90-100 million and provides provides services in patient services, eligibility services, patient financing and healthcare collections. It has around 1,400 employees and 950 healthcare providers as clients.

Firstsource is also rumoured to be in the race to acquire Citi's BPO unit after the first round of bidding. The sale of the BPO business, being run by Citigroup Global Services (formerly eServe), is expected to fetch Citi around Rs 3,200 crore. Other bidders include WNS and Genpact.

During its initial public offering (IPO) in end-January, the Firstsource management had indicated that the company intends to use the net proceeds of the issue to make acquisitions, set up new facilities, repay loan and for general corporate purposes. Out of the proceeds of the IPO, the company plans to spend approximately Rs 180 crore on acquisitions.

Wipro strings largest IT deal for $600 mn

Wipro Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Nasdaq-listed Infocrossing for $18.70 per share, pegging the enterprise valuation of the IT infrastructure management services firm at $600 million, including $60-million debt, in an all-cash deal.This marks Wipro’s 12th acquisition in the IT space and the ninth in the past 24 months alone, in what is being famously tagged as ‘string of pearls’ strategy.

The entire process of acquiring Infocrossing is likely to close by December 2007, and the acquired entity will be merged with Wipro’s subsidiary in US — Wipro Inc. This buyout brings in a revenue of $232.4 million with 900 people spread across five locations in the US.Wipro, for the first time, is in process of acquiring a publicly-held company.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Wipro buys Singapore's Unza for $246 mn

India's third-largest software services exporter, Wipro Ltd, has acquired Singapore's Unza Holdings Ltd for about $246 million in cash, the company said on Friday.

New York-listed Wipro, which also has interests in consumer care and lightings, expects to complete the 100 per cent acquisition by end-July, it said in a statement. Unza is a maker of personal care products with operations in over 40 countries.

It has manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. Wipro, which gets a bulk of its revenue by providing IT solutions and services such as systems integration, software application development and maintenance, has been buying up firms to accelerate growth.In October last year its Wipro Infotech unit said it was acquiring 3D Networks Pte and Planet PSG, part of Malaysia-based Planel One.

Wipro's engineering arm bought Swedish hydraulic components maker Hydrauto Group AB for $31 million in all cash deal in September. Wipro, which counts telecoms gear makers Cisco and Nortel, among key clients, is scheduled to announce its June quarter earnings on July 19.

Wipro set to acquire German firm

Wipro Technologies, an information technology and outsourcing company, is poised to acquire the IT arm of a major company in Germany.The company has initiated talks with potential targets in Germany, even though the names were kept under wraps.

All major companies — BMW, Lufthansa, BASF and Siemens — have captive IT organisations in Germany.While automobile major BMW has an IT subsidiary, Softlab, with SAP capabilities, German airline major Lufthansa runs Lufthansa Systems, the third biggest IT vendor in Germany. BASF’s IT services division and a host of small companies could also be on the Indian IT major’s radar.

According to industry sources, the Bangalore-based company is increasing its presence in Germany and is looking at both organic and inorganic growth in the country.The company is looking at increasing its presence in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, captive customer base and data centre applications.

Acquiring a company with these capabilities would be the fastest way to establish a presence in the country, the sources added.

Earlier, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji had stated that the company would look at acquisitions in Europe, especially in the UK, Germany and France.The company is on the lookout for acquisition that would help it gain a presence in the continent and embark on a much faster growth rate.

A strong presence in Germany will enable Wipro to tap the biggest ERP market in the world and enable it to tap one of the virgin markets for outsourcing of IT services. At present, German major SAP is the leading ERP solutions provider in the world.

TCS looks at foreign listing

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, is considering a $1 billion-plus (over Rs 4,300 crore) overseas equity sale in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) this year to fund acquisitions of other entities.

Banking sources said the equity offer may take place in six months and include a fresh share offer as well. The group is examining the pros and cons of listing on the major exchanges, including London, Luxembourg and New York stock exchanges.

A listing on the New York Stock Exchange, where other software giants – Infosys, Wipro and Satyam — are listed, gets immediate attention from global brokerages. But the flip side is the time-consuming compliance norms under the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

Bankers said raising funds through an equity sale in TCS makes sense as Tata Sons holds a 78.35 per cent stake in the country’s largest software company. As a policy, Tata Sons chips in with funds whenever any group entity makes a major acquisition.

For instance, Tata Sons is expected to contribute to Tata Steel’s $12.15 billion purchase of Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus, although a major chunk of the money will be raised through debt.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Wipro to invest Rs 375cr in Pune

Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro, today announced an investment of Rs 375 crore in Pune after the inauguration of its new development centre in Hinjewadi.

Wipro currently has 6,300 people in Pune operating from a 5,80,000 square feet campus at the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park Phase I at Hinjewadi and its new development centre at Phase II of the Hinjewadi Park. The IT major has also applied for 50 acre in Phase III of the Park, which is a notified special economic zone (SEZ).

With the addition of the new facility, Wipro will ramp up capacity to 17,000 people in Pune. Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro said: "We will invest Rs 375-400 crore over the next 3-5 years to develop this facility as we ramp up our headcount in Pune from 6,400 to 17,000 people." The overall employee base in five years will cross 1,60,000 people, he added.

The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who urged Wipro to set up shop in other cities in Maharashatra. "We need your presence in every city - Kolhapur, Nagpur, Aurangabad and even Latur. The government will act as a facilitator to enable you to set up offices in these cities," Deshmukh said.