UK’s Serco Group acquires InfoVision

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‘This year and next will be tough for IT & BPO’

New Delhi: InfoVision Group, one of the leading domestic BPOs in the country, has been acquired by Serco Group Plc, a UK-based international service company for Rs 200 crore.

In an all-cash deal, Serco has acquired 60% of the company for Rs 97.7 crore, while the rest 40% will be acquired in two tranches over the next two years, at a value determined by Infovision’s financial performance in the intervening period.

On the motive behind the sell-out, Aditya Gupta, president and founder of InfoVision Group, said, “We were running out of investment capability to cope with the 40-50% growth that we were registering. Secondly, we wanted to be a part of a large group, which opens doors for bigger activities.”

Gupta denied that the move has been motivated by pressures related to the global economic downturn. “We get around 80% of our revenues from the domestic market, and there has been no slowdown there,” he said.

While InfoVision employs 10,000 people, Serco, which had revenues to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore in 2007-08, has 50,000 employees.

InfoVision had revenues worth Rs 240 crore in the last fiscal; it will retain the Rs 40 crore HR services business, which is not being sold.

“The price of the deal is equal to our previous year’s revenues,” said Gupta. He will continue to head the company as the CEO of Serco India.

He added that there will be no lay-offs as a result of this deal “as the management team will remain the same and we will continue to service the domestic market”.

While around 70% of InfoVision’s revenues some from the BFSI vertical in the private sector, government and public sector accounts for 90% of Serco’s revenues.

“One of the underlying advantages of this deal is that each company can leverage strengths of the other,” Gupta said.