BWI: Wipro to Acquire Citi Technology Services Ltd [India]

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: WIPRO
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 06:20 PM IST (12:50 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Economy; Business: Accounting & management consultancy services, Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst, Information technology, Stock exchanges; Technology
Release no: 18803
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Wipro to Acquire Citi Technology Services Ltd [India]
Wipro and Citi Enter Agreement for Wipro to Provide Information Technology Services to Citi and its Businesses

Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Tuesday, December 23, 2008 -- (Business Wire India) -- Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), and Citigroup Inc. (Citi), the leading global financial services company, today announced that they have reached an agreement for Wipro to acquire Citi Technology Services Ltd., the India-based captive provider of information technology services and solutions to Citi entities worldwide, for an all cash consideration of approximately $127 million. As part of the transaction, Wipro and Citi will sign a Master Services Agreement for the delivery of Technology Infrastructure Services (TIS) and Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) services for a period of six years. The agreement provides for the delivery of at least $500 million in service revenues over the period of the contract.

Based in Mumbai and Chennai, Citi Technology Services provides IT services to Citi and its affiliates around the world. Citi Technology Services has grown tremendously since its inception in 2005, and today has approximately 1,650 employees trained in Citi processes and technologies, servicing Citi businesses in more than 32 countries. Citi Technology Services' revenues are expected to be approximately $80 million in CY2008.

Apart from strong competencies in TIS, Citi Technology Services has expertise in ADM for Cards, Capital Markets and Corporate Banking.

This transaction strengthens Wipro's existing relationship with Citi with a long-term agreement for Wipro to deliver TIS and domain -led ADM services to all Citi business segments.

Girish S. Paranjpe, Jt CEO, IT business and Member of the Board, Wipro said, "Citi has played a pioneering role in leveraging technology for banking. We are pleased that our domain expertise and infrastructure management capabilities positioned us as their partner of choice. This posit ion has further strengthened with this strategic transaction. We are delighted to welcome the employees of Citi Technology Services into 2/5 the Wipro family."

Don Callahan, Chief Administrative Officer, Citi said , "This sale was the result of a thorough process to ensure we were partnering with the right company for our businesses and our clients . Wipro, with its wide range of services, extensive experience and broad global presence can play a significant role in meeting Citi's objectives of productivity improvement, while our Citi Technology Services employees will join a larger information technology organization with additional third party growth opportunities. This transaction is consistent with our efforts to improve our operating leverage while we focus on our core banking competencies."

Marty Lippert, Chief Operations and Technology Officer, Citi said, "This partnership enables Citi to leverage Wipro's expertise in information technology services where we have significant plans for driving higher eff iciencies by leveraging the Global Delivery Model."

Jagdish Rao, Global Technology Head, Citi, added, "Wipro brings the maturity of processes and skilled management to help us build upon the success we have had with Citi Technology Services in the Infrastructure Management space."

Soumitro Ghosh, Sr Vice President, Finance Solutions, Wipro, said, "Citi Technology Services team's expertise in addressing the risk and compliance issues for banking industry positions us well to offer similar scale and comple xity of services to other leading banks in US and Europe. We are confident that the skillsets we have acquired will enhance our capabilities to compete for more TIS business in the financial services industry in general and Citi in particular."

The transaction is expected to be closed by March 2009, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

About Wipro

Wipro Technologies, a division of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified global IT services organization. Wipro Technologies was recently assessed at Level 5 for CMMI V 1.2 across offshore and onsite development centers. Wipro is one of the largest product engineering and support service providers worldwide. Wipro provides comprehensive research and development services, IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, package implementation, software application development, and maintenance services to corporations globally.

In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India, offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services.

Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. In the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations. Wipro's ADS' are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange - Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit our websites at www.wipro.com and www.wiprocorporate.com.

About Infocrossing

Infocrossing, Inc. is a provider of selective IT infrastructure, enterprise application and business process outsourcing services delivering the computing platforms and proprietary systems that enable companies, regardless of industry, to process data and share information within their business, and between their customers, suppliers and distribution channels. Leading companies leverage Infocrossing's robust computing infrastructure, skilled technical team, and process-driven operations to reduce costs and improve service delivery by outsourcing the operation of mainframes, mid-range, open system servers, networks and business processes to Infocrossing.

About Citigroup

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, Citi Financial, Primerica, Citi Smith Barney, Banamex and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Notes: - Names of companies and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

Media Contacts:

Wipro Technologies

India:

Radhika Mahadevan
Wipro Technologies
+91- 9945042603
radhika.mahadevan@wipro.com

Monisha Devaiah
Wipro Technologies
+91- 98866-54520
monisha.devaiah@wipro.com

Purvika Anand
Gutenberg Communications
+91 9901134441
purvika@gutenbergpr.com

US:

Lavanya DJ
Gutenberg Communications
+ 212.239.8740
lavanya@gutenbergpr.com

Eric Belove
Wipro Technologies
+ 1 (732).216.6242
eric.belove@wipro.com

Investor Relations: Rajendra.shreemal@wipro.com

Citi Media Contacts:

Mumbai

Sudeep Bhalla
+ 91 22 4001 5009
Sudeep.bhalla@citi.com

New York

Mike Hanretta
+1-212-559-9466
hanrettam@citi.com
Investor (New York)
Scott Freidenrich
+1-212-559-2718





KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ECONOMY, CONSULTANCY SERVICES, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst, IT, STOCK EXCHANGES, TECHNOLOGY, 507685.BO

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