HLL sells majority stake in Unilever to Capgemini

BANGALORE: Outsourcing services provider Capgemini has acquired 51 per cent shareholding in Unilever India Shared Services Ltd from Hindustan Lever Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

Capgemini has also entered into a seven-year agreement with the Unilever Group to deliver finance and accounting business process outsourcing (BPO F&A) services to the Unilever companies, the current customers of Indigo, a provider of financial shared services and Sarbanes Oxley compliance services to the Unilever Group.

Capgemini said in a statement that the acquisition, to be consummated in Oct 2006, will enable it to extend its BPO F&A capabilities.

Indigo has operating centers in Bangalore and Chennai, and employs nearly 600 professionals. It currently serves Unilever companies in about 45 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe and North America.

"The partnership with Capgemini brings global shared services skills and technology to HLL and Unilever. It also enables leveraging the current Indigo expertise and capabilities and represents an exciting opportunity for Indigo employees to extend the business outside of the Unilever Group," D Sundaram, finance director of Hindustan Lever and chairman of Indigo, said in the statement.

The partnership with Unilever is expected to reinforce Capgemini's position in BPO F&A services, employee services, procurement and knowledge process outsourcing.

"This acquisition reaffirms Capgemini's commitment to increasing its presence worldwide, in particular in India, and strengthening its position in BPO F&A services. We will greatly benefit from the expertise of the Indigo team, consolidating our capabilities to serve a wide range of clients," said Hubert Giraud, chief executive officer, Global BPO.

Indigo will add 600 professionals to the Capgemini BPO team and will also contribute to the extension of the Group's existing BPO global delivery network in Poland, China, India, Australia, USA and Canada. It will also add two more centers to make BPO platforms in India to operate from Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.

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