TCS buys Chile outsourcing firm for US$23mln

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's top software services company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), said on Tuesday it had acquired Chile's Comicrom for US$23 million, as it sharpens its focus on business process outsourcing.

Privately held Comicrom, with 1257 employees, provides services mainly to banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and government organisations in Chile, TCS said.

Comicrom counts 70 percent of Chile's banks as customers and has 57 percent of the country's cheque processing business. It made revenue of US$35.5 million in the financial year 2005.

"The acquisition will drive TCS' growing presence in the region's banking sector," N. Chandrasekaran, TCS global head of sales and operations, said in a statement.

The acquisition would boost TCS's regional staff strength to more than 2000 and its client base to more than 100.

TCS and Comicrom already have a joint venture for software services in Chile, and TCS bought out Comicrom's 49 percent stake as part of the transaction.

Business process outsourcing is a small portion of TCS's overall services portfolio, accounting for US$22 million last year.

TCS recently took over the business processing for British insurance and pensions firm Pearl Group in a deal expected to generate US$848 million in revenue over 12 years.