Ajuba Solutions to grow on MiraMed Global's acquisitions

Two acquisitions - one completed and another to be done soon - by the US-based healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) group MiraMed Global Services are set to spur growth of its Indian outfit Ajuba Solutions, an official said Monday.

Chennai-based 15-year-old Ajuba Solutions is looking at hiring 1,000 people this year at an average of around 100 people per month.

"Last week, we concluded the acquisition of 160 people on call consulting based in the US. The acquisition would complement our operations in the coding space," Tony Mira, co-founder and group CEO, told IANS.

According to Mira, Ajuba Solutions has around 3,500 people and the number could grow up by 20-30 percent by the end of 2015.

Not divulging the deal size, Mira said on call consulting would add around 15 percent to the group's around $100 million turnover.

On the group's pending acquisition, Mira said the target company is into data processing located on the US east coast.

It has a revenue of around $30 million and an headcount of 700, he said.

"The acquisitions and the growth in existing business will necessitate expansion of Ajuba Solutions here," he said.

"Next two years, MiraMed Global will focus on consolidating the two acquisitions. The people in these two companies would continue to stay," he said.

According to him, volatility in the billing rates has come down with the consolidation happening in the US healthcare services space.

However, the one challenge before the MiraMed group is to have sufficient number of trained people in India to handle the back end work. According to Mira, the group is also looking at expanding its Philippines centre but the bulk of the expansion and headcount addition would happen in India.

"Nearly 80-90 percent of headcount addition would happen in India," he said.

Ajuba Solutions has already started the process of hiring and training talent.

"The company has set up a new 600-seater facility here at an investment of around Rs.7.5 crore," Narasimha Nayak, director-finance and administration, told IANS.

On Ajuba Solutions plans of looking at tier-2 towns in Tamil Nadu, Nayak said there were issues relating to uninterrupted power supply in those towns.

According to him, client stipulations like having separate disaster recovery centres have compelled Ajuba Solutions not to consolidate its Indian operations under one roof.