Capita Group Plc, UK is set to acquire Prudential Process Management Services (PPMS)-India, the captive arm of Prudential UK, which has been on the block for some time. According to sources, Capita Group has made the highest bid for PPMS India and both the companies will make an official announcement on Wednesday, November 28.

FE was the first to report about PPMS India being on block in its July 28 edition this year. The deal is expected to be valued anywhere between $100 to $150 million.

Replying to an email send to Prudential, UK, a spokesperson said, ?We are progressing with our evaluation work and a decision about the option selected to deliver the additional cost savings we outlined will be made this quarter. No decisions have been made at this stage about which option we will pursue. In the meantime, we would not comment on speculation or rumour about this review or about PPMS.? A Capita spokesperson said he could not comment on speculation.

Established in December 2003, PPMS India at present has over 1,800 employees and focuses on providing back-end support to Prudential’s operations in UK. Prudential had announced a major cost-cutting drive aimed at producing cost savings across the group by the end of 2009.

Moreover, Capita already has an existing relationship with Prudential, working on the company’s cross-border life assurance portfolio since 2003.

In August last year, Prudential signed a ?40 million contract to outsource its UK life and pension support to Capita.

According to the media reports in the UK, Prudential could outsource around 1,000 jobs from its main Scottish operation to UK group Capita and is considering an outsourcing deal for the life and pensions administration roles as part of its plan to save ?80 million per year in its UK business.

Outlining its cost-cutting plans earlier this year, Prudential said that 1,000 of the 2,500 jobs at Craigforth, near

Stirling, and 2,000 jobs in Reading, Berkshire, and Mumbai, India, would be affected, and outsourcing as well as further offshoring would be considered.