Information Age: News, analysis & insight for IT & business leaders

Wipro and Copal Partners are considering buying the business processing outsourcing facilities of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers, according to an Indian newpaper report.

Indian IT outsourcing companies including Wipro are reportedly interested in acquiring the Mumbai-based business process outsourcing department of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this week.

The Business Standard newspaper claims that Wipro and ‘knowledge process outsourcing’ company Copal Partners are both interested in purchasing the captive unit, where around 1,200 employees conduct equity research and analytics support. The companies did not confirm or deny the claim.

The report seems to contradict Wipro’s announcement earlier this week that it has put up to 3,000 of its employees – around 5% of the workforce – under performance review in advance of considerable lay offs.

The Indian IT sector, which derives much of its business from the US financial service industry, is bracing itself for tough times ahead. Satyam, India’s fourth largest IT company, said that it has also placed 1,500 employees under performance review. But as the above report suggests, some Indian IT companies may benefit from the misfortunes of the US financial sector.

As seen in Infosys' acquisition of UK SAP practice Axon Group last month, many Indian companies are looking drive the next phase of their growth with acquisitions. And if the Wall Street bankruptcies continue, there may be plenty of resources going cheap.

Further reading

Infosys acquires UK SAP consultancy Axon Group for £407m

Find more stories in the IT Services Briefing Room