Intelenet Global Services to buy 51% in Spanco BPO arm

1st December 2005: Intelenet Global Services, a HDFC-Barclays joint venture engaged in business process outsourcing (BPO), will acquire Sparsh, the BPO outfit of Spanco Telesystems and Solutions. The Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Capital holds a 10% stake in Spanco Telesystems.

According to the arrangement between the two companies, Spanco will demerge Sparsh, which will be acquired by the domestic subsidiary of Intelenet. For the acquisition, the Intelenet subsidiary will pay 51% of the agreed valuation of Sparsh to Spanco in cash and will issue 49% of the post issue share capital to Spanco. The company will be listed on BSE, subject to necessary regulatory approvals of demerger.

Sparsh has seven centres — Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Gurgaon and Bangalore. It employs 4,000 people and operates 2,500 seats, which will move up to 5,000 by end of this year.

Intelenet Global CEO Sushil Kumar said the acquisition would help the company gain leadership in the growing BPO market in the country. “We believe that the expertise and relationships that Spanco has built will allow us to tap the market effectively. We will leverage expertise of our international business in the domestic BPO market to enhance end-to-end customer experience,” he added.

The Mumbai-based Spanco is into outsourcing services, including data collection, data processing, accounts opening and voice services. Spanco employs over 4,000 people. It operates from five locations in India and services over 40 clients, most of which are Indian blue chip companies.

Kapil Puri, Chairman, Spanco Telesystems said, “We were looking to partner with a suitable partner who is committed and interested in growing the domestic BPO business in this emerging market. We felt that the partnership with Intelenet provides benefit to our clients and employees and ensures business growth.”

Intelenet has over five years of expertise in delivering custom-made service solutions that are aligned to suit the outsourcing strategies of companies. With over 5,000 employees today, Intelenet currently handles over 60 million calls and processes 17 million transactions annually for 16 UK and US clients from its four delivery centres.

Oracle acquires 42.41% stake in I-Flex Solutions Ltd

24th November 2005: I-Flex Solutions Ltd on Wednesday said Mauritius-based Oracle Global Ltd along with PAC Oracle Corporation has acquired 42.41% stake in the company.

Oracle Global Ltd and PAC Oracle Corporation has acquired 32,236,000 equity shares of the company through negotiated settlement, I-Flex informed the National Stock Exchange.

After the acquisition, the shareholding of Oracle Global Ltd is 32,753,375 shares aggregating to 43.09% of the total paid up capital of I-Flex Solutions Limited, it added.

Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) picks 3.2% stake in Action Construction Equipment (ACE)

23rd November 2005: BCCL has picked up equity in ACE, one of the largest mobile crane, tower crane and construction equipment manufacturing company. "BCCL has taken a 3.2% equity at a price of Rs 100 per share," the construction equipment company said in a statement here.

ACE has a consolidated presence in all major infrastructures, construction, heavy engineering and industrial projects across the country like power projects, metro rail, road projects, dams and building construction.

It has a production facility at Faridabad in Haryana and is in the process of the setting up another facility for production of loaders and higher capacity tower cranes, the statement added.