Wipro looks at acquisitions

NEW DELHI: Wipro is looking at acquiring a midsize company in US, Europe and India. Speaking to media,Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, said that the company has $ 1 billion in cash reserves, which will be utilized for the acquisition and as well as paying dividend.

During his address, Premji indicated a "generous" dividend payout than in the past two years . “The dividend payout ratio will be more generous than in the past two years, but in line with what we have indicated under the broad outline of the company's current dividend policy," he said.

On the acquisition, Premji said that the company is looking at specialized verticals. “We are not looking for general-purpose acquisitions, but at specialised verticals. We are looking for companies which can give us a good geography such as continental Europe," he said.

Meanwhile, Wipro is also looking at setting up an integrated IT and BPO facility in Bucharest (Romania) in the next 8-12 weeks. "The centre would serve the markets of Germany and France. We are also looking at one more centre in Far East which will be more cost-efficient than China," he said.

Speaking on Wipro BPO, he said that the division is driving transaction-processing business along with the voice. “In two years we hope to increase our transaction processing business to contribute 40 percent of total sales”, he said.

Currently it contributes 14-15 percent of the total sales.