This is the seventh acquisition by Aegis in the last two years and will add approximately 2,000 people to Aegis strength of 14,000 across 23 centers. It will also bring Bharti Group’s mobile operator Bharti Airtel into its portfolio. The company expects to increase its headcount to 25,000-30,000 in the next two to three years.

Aparup Sengupta, chief executive and managing director at Aegis said: We are delighted with this acquisition as this is a perfect fit for Aegis. It is in line with our strategy of growing the business in India in our chosen segment.

Aegis has achieved a compounded annual growth of 44% in the last three years and expects revenues of $500 million over the next two years. For the fiscal 2007, telecoms was the largest contributor to Aegis’ revenues with a share of 40%, followed by banking financial services and insurance with 20% and healthcare contributing about 10-12%. Geographically, the US constitutes 60% of the company’s revenue and the remaining comes from India. According to Indian business newspaper Business Standard, Aegis is also planning acquisitions in Europe and south-east Asia, besides India and the US.

Other players in the BPO market are also acquiring companies to expand their foothold in the market. Hero ITES, the BPO subsidiary of the two-wheeler company Hero group, acquired Scotland’s call center firm Telecom Service Centers in September 2007. Aditya Birla Nuvo Group’s BPO arm also acquired Canada-based Minacs for $125 million in June 2006.

Source: ComputerWire daily updates