Archana Venkat

Chennai, July 17 Global business services provider e4e is in talks with companies for possible acquisitions to expand its presence into new verticals and new geographies. “We are considering stake purchase in companies that operate niche businesses. This will help us acquire skilled manpower too,” Mr D.V. Narasingarao, Executive Vice-President, Strategic Operations, e4e India, told Business Line without indicating any time line for the acquisitions.

e4e is scouting for sub-$50 million companies in the UK, Europe and South America to complement its service delivery operations in India and US. “Unless there are companies in India with significant talent, we will not look at them. Valuations (for companies) in India are very high,” Mr Narasingarao responding to whether any Indian companies were on e4e’s radar.

The company currently operates in three verticals – high technology, consumer finance and healthcare (through the acquisition of Meridian Health Care Management healthcare and Nittany Offshore Services). It will continue to focus on developing niche capabilities in these areas through forthcoming acquisitions. These include areas such as customer and technical support, application and infrastructure management and patient monitoring. Entry into new verticals may also be explored, Mr Narasingarao said.

Acquisitions are likely to be funded through internal accruals but the company pans to enter the capital market with an initial public offering soon.

Besides inorganic growth the company is also expanding existing operations in India. With about 3,500 employees globally, e4e has five centres in Bangalore and two in Chennai and will continue to add headcount through the year. “Our clients have been increasing the size of their engagements and we need people to service these commitments. So hiring is on and we do not focus on any particular targets,” he said.

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