No BPO acquisition for UTI, says SEBI
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a regulator of securities markets in India, has intervened in the plans of Unit Trust of India (UTI) to acquire a BPO firm. The acquisition was aimed at supporting UTI's mutual fund (UTI MF) operations. According to SEBI, an AMC is only allowed to cater to fund management, portfolio management services (PMS), offshore fund management, and venture equities companies. They are restricted however, from entering other business domains such as BPO.
BSNL to offer onsite services to global customers
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is looking at offering onsite operational services to foreign telecom companies. BSNL, which has a huge workforce of over three lakh employees, will use its HR skill set to enable foreign telcos manage their international operations.
BSNL is taking outsourced managed services to international markets in a big way. The company, which has the expertise to manage an operator's network expects to enhance its revenues through this business and use its large experienced workforce to the optimum.
India gets its first Japanese call center
Espire Infolabs Pvt. Ltd, India has entered into a partnership with two Japanese firms, MasterPiece Group and Success TRC Pvt. Ltd., to set up the first Japanese Language call center in the Capital. Language has remained a big barrier for Indian BPOs to address the Japanese market. In the new set up, Japanese operators are working on inbound and outbound processes, using the Japanese language. The companies have set up a joint venture company in Japan called Masterpiece Espire India Co. Ltd. with its headquarters at Tokyo.
Sequoia sells stake in FirstSource to Sun
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India has sold a 4.45 percent stake in Firstsource Solutions (formerly ICICI OneSource) to the Sun Group for US$ 42 million. Post the sale, Sequoia Capital India will continue to hold a five percent stake in Firstsource.
Sequoia Capital India is positive about Firstsource Solutions and its existing investment in the company. Sequoia had invested US$ 8 million in Firstsource in July 2003. The VC firm held 9.17 percent in Firstsource before the stake sale.
Helio Venture to invest US $6.5 million in Chennai BPO
Helion Venture, an India-focused venture fund, has led an investment of US$ 6.5 million in Anantara Solutions, a recently-launched Chennai-based outsourcing company. The other investors include Walden international, SVB Financial Group and a US-based venture capitalist, Christian Wedell. The investment will be used for capital expenditure and development purposes.
Anantara Solutions, a second generation outsourcing (SGO) company, which combines business consulting and IT services to deliver business value to a client. The SGO model shifts focus from cost arbitrage to adding value to the customer. It blends consulting and technology solutions which will help clients compete better. Another dimension of the outsourcing approach followed by Anantara, which commenced operation a few months ago, is that client requirements that need niche expertise are being outsourced to SMEs and not undertaken by the company itself.
Alcatel-Lucent acquires Netdevices
Alcatel-Lucent has acquired US-based NetDevices, a developer of services gateway products for enterprise branch networks. NetDevices has a BPO center each in California and Bangalore. The company delivers an enterprise networking platform known as a Unified Service Gateway, which is designed to reduce the cost and complexity of managing branch office networks. NetDevices’ Bangalore center, set up in 2004 will now be integrated into Alcatel-Lucent’s Enterprise Business Group.
Piracy makes a dent in EU software industry revenues
The European Union software industry lost US$ 11 billion in sales last year as more than a third of new software was pirated, a Business Software Alliance study showed. The EU software piracy rate remained at 36 percent, above the 35 percent worldwide weighted average, said the Washington, US-based Business Software Alliance whose members include Microsoft Corp. and SAP AG. The piracy rate in Western Europe was 34 percent, while the rate in central and Eastern Europe was 68 percent. Harmonized European legislation to combat piracy has helped to keep the rate stable since 2005, the alliance said.
Austria, Finland, the UK and Germany all had piracy rates below 30 percent but didn't reduce piracy levels. Slovenia and Slovakia reduced their piracy rates, which remained above 40 percent.
Target Group to set up BPO in Mysore
US$ 52.9 billion US retail giant Target Corp. will set up its back office at Mysore, nearly 140 km from Bangalore. Target will be the first Fortune 30 MNC to come to Mysore.
Initially, the company is looking at an investment of Rs. 65 crore, which will be scaled to Rs. 300 crore over the next three years. Target will employ around 2,500 to 3,000 people in the first phase..
With 40-odd units, including Indian IT giants TCS, Infosys and Wipro, already present in Mysore, Karnataka is looking at Tier-II and Tier-III cities to bring in its next wave of IT investment.
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