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BPO firm Intelenet Global Services is close to acquiring the backend processing division of a financial institution in the US.The source said that the top management is in the final stages of discussion.It is learnt that the company has readied about USD200 million for the acquisition of a financial firm. However, the source said quoting company officials that money wont be an obstacle as the company does not want to let the opportunity go away. The company has raised capital through a mix of equity and debt.
In addition to financial institutions, the BPO firm is also eyeing the backend processing division of some US, UK and Australia based travel firms.
Meanwhile, the management of Intelenet is believed to be looking at the current financial downturn in the US market, as favourable for a lowprice offer.
The travel sector is feeling the heat due to the rising oil prices. But, the desperation in the BFSI segment is of a greater degree as compared to any other sector at the moment which is why the management of the company is primarily eyeing the sector, the source said.
The situation with some of the financial institutions in the US is more desperate than is being written about. That is why the time is perfect for the top management to look for a low price to pick up a firm. Promoters and other stakeholders in such firms are facing the dilemma of when to exit and at what price, the source explained.
Industry sources cite the recent attempt by another BPO firm Genpact to acquire India based Citigroup Global Services, the captive BPO arm of Citi Group in which the Citi Group hesitated to give a nod to the bid owing to the dilemma of right price and timing. According to recent reports the firm is talking to other bidders such as IBM and Cap Gemini.
In 2007 Intelenet rolled out its strategy by acquiring two companies in travel and IT space Upstream, a BPO house and Travelport ISO, the Indiabased captive operations part of the Travelport group. Intelenet also forayed into the domestic BPO sector by acquiring Sparsh.
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