The Hindu Business Line : Infosys not in race for GE's BPO biz

Infosys Technologies Ltd is not in the race to acquire GE's Business Process Outsourcing operations. "We are not considering it," Mr Nandan Nilekani, CEO, President and Managing Director of Infosys Technologies said on the sidelines of a CNBC discussion. Mr Nilekani's statement comes in the wake of recent reports that GE, one of India's largest BPO operator with over 12,000 employees, was in talks to sell all or part of GE Capital International Services, and that Infosys was among the companies that have shown interest in the acquisition.

When contacted, a GE Capital spokesperson said, "We will confirm that GE is in ongoing discussions related to the strategic direction of GECIS and its role within GE." However, he declined to divulge details.

"GECIS is one of the largest and most competitive BPO service provider in the world. GECIS continues to exceed all its commitments for net income, revenues and productivity. It has a healthy pipeline of new business, and projects positive growth for 2005. GE fully supports GECIS. Any changes made, will be done to position the company for growth," the spokesperson said.

According to industry sources, one of the options being considered seriously by GE is not to completely exit GECIS. They pointed out GECIS is currently fully owned by GE, and there could be clients who despite being convinced of GECIS's capabilities would be more comfortable if the BPO unit was not fully owned by GE.