INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JULY 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

HCL TECH BAGS $780M CONTRACT FROM SKANDIA

HCL Technologies, the country's fourth-largest software services exporter, has cut a $780-million outsourcing deal with Skandia, the 151-year-old financial services firm owned by Old Mutual. This is the largest outsourcing deal signed by an Indian software services firm till date, dwarfing Tata Consultancy Services' € 200m (approximately $255m as per current exchange rates) deal with ABN-Amro bagged last year.

The contract involves all aspects of outsourcing services, from IT and BPO to remote infrastructure management. The largest component from the people perspective is the BPO portion of the deal. The tenure of the deal could not ascertained.

Vineet Nayar, president of HCL Technologies, declined comment on the deal but added that the company was focused on large transformation transactions. “As I had explained last time... we will focus on large transformation transactions. This strategy is paying rich dividends and we are engaged in a number of large deals which are in different stages of evolution. As and when these deals close, we will announce them with the consent of our customers,” he added. Other people familiar with the transaction confirmed the clinching of the deal.

Skandia was formed in Sweden in 1855 and was taken over by Old Mutual in 2005. It focuses on advising consumers on savings solutions and designing products to meet their requirements.

The deal catapults the Delhibased software services company into a different league with annual revenues from the transaction bolstering its market value.