TCS buys Citi8217;s India BPO arm for 505 mn

A TCS spokeswoman said the company had called a news conference at its Mumbai headquarters at 0900 GMT and declined further comment. A Citigroup spokesman declined to comment.

Citigroup Global Services, the India back office unit, began as a business processing arm for Citi India in 1992 and expanded to serve Citi8217;s global operations in 1998, according to its website.

The unit, which employs 12,000 people, operates out of seven facilities across Indian cities and offers back office services to Citi8217;s consumer, corporate and global wealth management entities in 50 countries, the website showed.

In July last year, Infosys Technologies, India8217;s No. 2 software services exporter, signed a 250 million outsourcing contract with Royal Philips Electronics and bought three of the Dutch firm8217;s back-office centres.

At 0703 GMT, shares in Tata Consultancy, which has a market value of about 12 billion, was down 8.7 per cent at 525.50 rupees in a weak Mumbai market that was trading 5.3 per cent lower.