Upfront

Brigade acquires Webhelp

Brigade Corporation has acquired Hyderabad-based Webhelp Global Services, owned by TWS Holdings, in an all-cash deal effective December 1, 2004. Brigade Corporation, the largest third-party BPO company in Andhra Pradesh, didn’t disclose the buyout details. Avendus Advisors were advisors to Brigade for the deal. According to Sri Dasari, chairman and CEO, Brigade, “The deal is a buyout of Webhelp’s client contracts, existing facility, specially trained tech-support and customer service agents, who are being absorbed by the company.” The company has plans to expand its Hyderabad operations and has acquired about 4 acres of land at Madhapur (Hitec City) to build a 1.50 lakh sqft facility. It may be recalled that three BPO firms—Tracmail, Webhelp and Spherenomics—had merged and created TWS Holdings in 2003.

Satyam’s board clears $360 mn ADS issue

The board of directors of Satyam Computer Services have approved the issue of American Depository Shares (ADS) against the existing equity shares of the company. As per the Board’s decision, the size of the sponsored ADS issue shall not exceed 30 million equity shares (equivalent to 15 million ADSs) including a green shoe option if any. This issue would amount to $360 million based on the closing price of ADS on NYSE as of December 7, 2004. The Board has called for an EGM on January 7, 2005 to get shareholders’ approval.

“Positive global trends towards offshoring have resulted in an enhanced interest in Indian IT companies. We believe the time is right to increase Satyam’s float in the ADS market through sponsored ADS offering. This will bring us closer to achieving our objective of transitioning to a mainstream global IT services stock,” B Ramalinga Raju, chairman, Satyam Computer Services, said.