GTL inks BPO leasing deal with ICICI, Spanco

GTL, a network services provider, has entered into a Rs 250-275 crore infrastructure leasing agreement with private banking major ICICI Bank and IT company Spanco TeleSystems.

The deal permits ICICI Bank to use GTL's business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centre facilities at Mhape in Navi Mumbai for 25 years.

GTL has entered into a similar agreement with Spanco TeleSystems, under which it will lease out a 36,000 sq ft facility to the Mumbai-based Spanco TeleSystems. This will fetch it an additional Rs 3.8 crore per annum, taking the total cash flow to around Rs 8.8 crore a year.

However, these agreements did not include infrastructure management, application management and professional services, sources close to the development told Business Standard.

GTL was using these facilities for its BPO operations. ICICI Bank would use the facility for its call centre operations.

A GTL spokesperson said, "We are planning to put our unused and under-utilised assets to better use, and are looking at leasing assets out, but cannot comment on the specifics of the current deal."

GTL's IT division has similar facilities in Mumbai and Pune, spread over 10,000-30,000 sq ft. These are also in the process of being leased out and are under various stages of negotiation. However, this could not be confirmed.

The company had decided to hive off its IT business to concentrate on its core network services business. The IT division was offering enterprise solutions and managed services to medium and large corporates, and has over 500 clients in the IT, ITeS and BFSI segments. The division has around 350-400 employees.

France Telecom, through its subsidiary Orange Business Services, is believed to be close to acquiring GTL's IT business for around $70 million (Rs 300 crore). An announcement in this regard is expected by the month end.

The under-utilised assets were being leased out as part of the company's restructuring plan. The restructuring and hive-off plans were aimed at increasing margins, improving asset utilisation and improving return on capital employed.