Capgemini India buys out 51 per cent stake in Unilever's Indigo
By Our Corporate Bureau | 07 Sep 2006
Mumbai: Leading provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services Capgemini has acquired Hindustan Lever Limited 51 per cent shareholding in Unilever India Shared Services Limited (Indigo).
The acquisition of Indigo is expected to be completed in October 2006. The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Capgemini and the Unilever Group have also entered in to a seven-year agreement to deliver the full range of BPO finance and account (F&A) services to Unilever companies, which are current customers of Indigo.
Indigo is a provider of financial shared services and Sarbanes Oxley compliance services to the Unilever Group throughout the world. It has operating centres in Bangalore and Chennai and has nearly 600 professionals, including about 75 chartered accountants, working in these centres. It currently serves Unilever companies in about 45 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe and North America.
Being an in-house Unilever services business, Indigo's experience in migrating and operating a variety of accounting and financial services across a number of countries and considerable expertise in servicing the FMCG sector would lead to capability enhancement for Capgemini; Indigo's 600 staff will be absorbed by the acquirer. Capgemini intends expanding its headcount in India to 10,000 by the end of 2007.
Capgemini employs approximately 61,000 people worldwide. Its 2005 global revenue was €6,954 million