Satyam eyes LatAm, eastern Europe for IT deals

Satyam Computers, India's fourth largest software exporter, is considering Latin America and eastern Europe as potential markets to expand its IT services.

"We are looking at South America and eastern Europe to expand our market.. We have presence in Sao Paulo (in Brazil), but we would like to enter that market in a big way. Eastern Europe is also a region to look for," Satyam Computers Chairman B Ramalinga Raju told PTI.

Satyam Computer Services has a strong presence in North America. A strong Latin American operations will help the IT firm as an ideal near off-shore facility for north American companies due to flexible time zone and languages.

In eastern Europe, Satyam already has presence in some countries like it has a development centre in Hungary.

While looking for new markets to establish its presence, the firm has also accelerated its efforts to acquire major international businesses across the geography.

Satyam aims to boost its European sales to reduce its dependence on customers in the US. It is bidding for larger contracts in the continent and targeting new business from existing customers such as European Aeronautic Defence and Space, he said.

Satyam is competing for some large contracts in the telecommunications industry in France and is targeting orders from some major European energy and utility entities, he said.

According to Raju, the fall of the US banks and mortgage firms has presented the company with number of lucrative opportunities. He also noted that a $4-5 billion war-chest may be established to purchase appropriate entities.

"The acquisition could be even in billions of dollars," said Raju.