Over the last five years, heavyweights in the Indian IT industry have spoken of big ticket acquisitions. But besides a few small and medium deals, nothing of consequence has come through so far.
The wait may, however, be over. Sources close to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) told TOI that it was looking to buy a UK-based company, Vertex, in the range of $800 million-$1 billion. If the deal comes through, it could be the largest ever by an Indian business house.
Vertex is the outsourcing division of United Utilities, a company listed on both the London and New York stock exchanges
Prior TCS acquisitions
Nov 2001—CMC —Rs 157 crore
May 2003 Airline Financial Services—undisclosed
March 2004—Aviation Software Development Consultancy—Rs 140 million
May 2004—Phoenix Global Solutions —undisclosed
April 2005—Tata Infotech—-equity swap
Oct 2005—Sydney-based Financial Network Services—$26 million
Nov 2005—Chile-based Comicrom—$23 million