Insurance Market Witnesses Important BPO Deals - July 25 , 2008

Indian outsourcers WNS and HCL Technologies have each acquired separate strategic assets, including the offshore unit of insurance giant Aviva and the financial services division of UK outsourcer Liberata. These deals have highlighted three important trends within the industry: the move away from captives, the increasing focus on the insurance vertical and the maturity of the Indian BPO market.

India-based outsourcer WNS has announced the GBP115 million ($228 million) purchase of Aviva Global Services (AGS), the captive offshore unit of insurance giant Aviva. As part of the acquisition, WNS, which is majority-owned by private equity shop Warburg Pincus, will continue to provide services to Aviva: the two companies inked a 100 month agreement that will provide WNS with approximately $1 billion in service revenue. Soon after this announcement, HCL Technologies, another Indian IT services provider, revealed the acquisition of Liberata Financial Services (LFS), a division of the UK outsourcer that serves the life and pension industry. The deal price was not disclosed, although the fixed assets have reportedly been valued at $2 million.

South Africa To Lure BPO, IT Majors From India

South Africa is all set to lure the BPO and IT industry from India to its backyard, as majority of the natives feel that Europeans and Americans are more comfortable with the South African English accent. A high-powered business delegation from South Africa on a visit to India to promote trade ties between the two countries said its looking not for making investments here but for Indians to make investments and provide expertise in setting up industries in South Africa. Themba Ngcobo, president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: For Indians, commencing up a business or investing in Durban will be like setting up a unit in familiar surroundings. The largest concentration of Indians outside the Indian sub-continent is in Durban., South Africa is all set to lure the BPO and IT industry from India to its backyard, as majority of the natives feel that Europeans and Americans are more comfortable with the South African English accent. A high-powered business delegation from South Africa on a visit to India to promote trade ties between the two countries said its looking not for making investments here but for Indians to make investments and provide expertise in setting up industries in South Africa. Themba Ngcobo, president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: For Indians, commencing up a business or investing in Durban will be like setting up a unit in familiar surroundings. The largest concentration of Indians outside the Indian sub-continent is in Durban.

Tata Consultancy Services Subsidiary Diligenta Wins £100 Million BPO Contract

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) has informed that Diligenta, a subsidiary of the Company, has won a contract to deliver Business Process Outsourcing services to support Sun Life Financial of Canada UKs (SLF UK) operations. The services, expected to commence in May 2008, are estimated to be worth £100 million (over USD200 million) over the life of the contract.

Diligenta has been working with SLF UK as preferred supplier since October 2007, following a competitive tender which came towards the natural end of SLF UKs existing outsourcing agreement. Diligenta will continue to run the operation in Basingstoke where SLF UKs Head Office is based.

The deal with SLF UK underlines the strength of TCSs Diligenta strategy, launched in 2006. Our vision was to establish a centre of excellence in the UK to capitalise on the growing BPO trend and to cultivate new opportunities in this sector, said A S Lakshminarayanan, vice-president and country head, TCS UK & Ireland. With the Sun Life Financial deal, Diligenta is moving into the second phase of its history, expanding its client base and UK market share and we are confident it heralds further growth for Diligenta.

Dillgenta is a UK-based, FSA regulated subsidiary of the Company. Since 2006, Diligenta has provided BPO services for the Pearl Group under a 12-year, £486 million contract to consolidate 11 financial and administrative systems onto a single platform.