MUMBAI,INDIA: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today acquired U.S. financial giant Citigroup's India back office operations for $505 million.

As part of the deal, TCS would provide outsourcing services to Citi and its affiliates for $2.5 billion over a period of nine and a half years.

"The acquisition of Citigroup's back office operations has two immediate strategic benefits for TCS. It gives us the ability to offer a comprehensive end-to-end, domain-led solution for business operations of large financial services institutions," N. Chandrasekaran, chief operating officer and executive director, said in a statement.

"It also positions us well to create banking processing platforms by integrating our products and process capabilities," he added.

Citigroup Global Services, the India back office unit, began as a business processing arm for Citi India in 1992 and expanded to serve Citi's global operations in 1998.

The unit, formerly known as E-serve International, offer transaction processing and customer service for Citigroup globally. The unit, which employs 12,000 people, operates out of seven facilities across Indian cities and offers back office services to Citi's consumer, corporate and global wealth management entities in 50 countries.