Birla may purchase outsourcing rivals

Kumar Mangalam Birla is considering acquiring business process outsourcing companies to help double revenue at his unit that aids customers manage payroll, claims and computers.

Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, Birla’s company that runs the group’s financial, telecommunications, information technology and chemical divisions, may also sell a stake in the unit Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide Ltd, according to Rakesh Jain, Nuvo’s managing director. Sales at Minacs rose 23 per cent to Rs 2,080 crore ($377 million) in the year ended March. Birla, who runs businesses including the world’s biggest maker of viscose staple fiber and India’s second-largest aluminum producer, is aiming to boost Minacs’ revenue to more than $1 billion even as it finds it difficult to add new clients, Jain said without elaborating. A twofold jump in sales will catapult the company to India’s No. 2 provider of outsourced services after Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “We know that this is not a global-sized business,” Jain said in an interview at his office in Mumbai. “We will evaluate how to grow the business,” including mergers and acquisitions, and may seek an investor for the unit, he said.