HTMT would acquire a BPO (business process outsourcing) company in Europe by the end of this fiscal. It is revealed by CEO of HTMT Global Solutions, Mr Sarkar during launch HTMT’s delivery centre at Nandambakkam in Chennai.

Spread over 48,000 sq ft and has a capacity of 1,200 seats, HTMT Global Solutions is a part of the Hinduja Group. It has opened its second centre in the city. The company has earmarked around $110 million for the acquisition, which will make it best outsourcing provider in the continent. HTMT has selected four companies for acquisition but it will acquire company in UK due to language affinities in the country.

There is a global fall in valuations of companies on international level, Till a few months ago, valuations used to be 9-10 times the operating profit but it is now 7-8 times. There is also a fall in mergers and acquisition at international level as banks are not keen to fund such activity. Thus it is a right time for acquisition as HTMT has sufficient funds, according to CEO of company. The company has about Rs440 crore as cash reserves on March 2008. It has reported revenues of Rs673 crore for the year ended in that month.

Mr Sarkar ruled out acquiring BPO operations owned by customers and telecom companies due to over valuation.

HTMT provides BPO and contact centre services to global clients, including Fortune 500 companies. The company prefers to own its centers especially in metro cities or places where it wants to have a large set-up. The company has 11 delivery centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Mysore. It has 10 global centers across Canada, Mauritius, the Philippines and US. The share price of HTMT has closed at Rs290 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It was up by 4.73 per cent over previous day.