Industry Updates : ITES/ BFSI Sector

28 Mar 2011: Ashish Singh to become chairman of Bain India Global consulting firm

Bain & Company has appointed country head and managing director Ashish Singh to the role of chairman of Bain India in response to the continued growth in clients demand in the country.

Singh, founding partner of Bain India, will be succeeded by Sri Rajan, senior partner and head of Bain's India Private Equity and M&A practices.

24 Mar 2011: HDFC ropes in Rakesh Singh of Rothschild to head I-banking unit

HDFC Bank, the country's second-largest private sector lender, has roped in Rakesh Singh from Rothschild to head its investment banking division. This is the first time there will be one person in sole charge of the division set up in 2009.The bank plans to now recruit more executives for the division as it plans to shore up its advisory services and leverage its business.

With deal activity picking up in the country, banks and corporates are increasingly strengthening their investment banking divisions. The number of mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and qualified institutional placements, jumped over 40% to 911 last year from 2009, as per data collated by audit, tax and advisory firm, Grant Thornton.

 

23 Mar 2011: Bangalore-based Acropetal acquires two companies in the US

Acropetal Technologies Ltd announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire two US-based companies LineBeyondInc, and Optech Consulting Inc.

LineBeyond is valued at $ 5 million and Optech at $ 7 million, respectively. These acquisitions will significantly expand Acropetal's addressable market and growth potential, broadening the solutions Acropetal provides to the rapidly growing Healthcare IT market.

23 Mar 2011: Mahindra Satyam moves court against I-T claim

Mahindra Satyam is gearing up for a long legal battle with the income-tax department. The company moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking a stay on the proceedings related to a Rs 616-crore claim made by the tax department.

23 Mar 2011: US healthcare is billion-dollar biz for Indian IT: Richard S Garnick

The US healthcare sector offers a multi-billion dollar IT and back-office services opportunity to  many Indian IT providers. Recent regulatory changes mandating more inclusive healthcare and standardization in patient records in the US have made the opportunity more attractive and immediate.

Richard S Garnick, who in his previous avatar as Wipro's head of the Americas and enterprise application services helped to grow revenues from millions to billions, now wants to repeat that growth story in the healthcare sector.

 

22 Mar 2011: HCL hopes staff who left Japan can return in weeks

HCL Technologies hopes 170 of its staff who had left quake-hit Japan will be able to return to the country within weeks if the situation there continues to improve.

HCL, along with other Indian technology companies including Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies, are relocating Japan-based staff elsewhere partly due to fear of radiation from the failed Fukushima nuclear reactor.

22 Mar 2011: TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL see 5% rise in pricing on higher salary costs

For the first time since the Lehman crisis that forced customers to shelve projects and bargain for lower billing rates, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCL are beginning to see an uptick of up to 5% in pricing, driven by higher salary costs and improved business environment.

 

Rising wages, inflation, and attrition of key staff are some of the reasons driving up billing rates for outsourcing contracts. Most new contracts now come with clauses that address the risks of future salary hikes, foreign currency fluctuations, and inflation in countries such as India.