Mphasis surges on acquisition move

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Second rung technology company, Mphasis BFL managed to buck the negative trend among tech stocks closing 4.11 per cent higher.

The stock was in limelight after the company announced in the afternoon that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a Bangalore-based software company, Kshema Technologies. The stock closed at Rs 581.50 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 590 with volumes accounting for more than 31 thousand shares at the BSE.

According to market sources, today's gain in Mphasis was purely news-driven with the company acquiring a software firm for approximately $21 million. The acquisition is expected to result in increase in earnings per share (EPS) in the very first year, the company said.

The stock, however, has been witnessing selling pressure in the last three months on back of outsourcing concerns and billing pressure. The stock prices have come down from its 52-week high of Rs 796.85 to today's close of Rs 581.50.