EDS completes Mphasis acquisition

Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has announced thjt it has successfully acquired a 52-per cent stake in Mphasis BFL Ltd. In April this year, EDS had announced having made an an all cash conditional open offer of Rs204.5 ($4.58) a share for 83 million shares of the Bangalore-based applications and BPO services company. (See: EDS offers $380 million for 52-per cent stake in Mphasis)

Mphasis BFL will remain as a separate company, but EDS will be able to access the Indian outsourcing company's 11,000 staff — in addition to the 3,000 staff EDS already has in India — and brings to EDS complementary skills particularly in the area of short-term projects for application development.

EDS plans to expand in India, and between the two companies they will have a headcount of 20,000 employees the end of the year. The acquisition will enable EDS to strengthen its small application development projects of contract sizes of up to $25 million.

Multinational services providers like IBM Corp, Capgemini SA, and Accenture Ltd. are hiring staff in large numbers in India to build a low-cost offshore services delivery capability. A part of IBM's $6-billion India plans involve a substantial increase in it s workforce.