EDS to buy Bangalore-based software testing company RelQ for $40 mn

Bangalore-based RelQ Software has finalized a deal worth $40 mn to be acquired by IT consulting major Electronic Data Systems (EDS). RelQ specializes in software testing, validation, verification and quality assurance. It has 800 people and posted revenues of $22 mn last fiscal. It is expected to record revenues of $30 mn in 2006-07.

RelQ will help the $21-billion EDS, which focuses on consulting, application management, maintenance, re-engineering, migration, technical support and testing, to ramp up its testing practice in India. EDS has over 17,000 employees here across varied verticals.

Read The Times of India article.
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Scandent to sell stake in Cambridge Solutions; Apollo, Fidelity, EDS approached

The Economic Times reports that the Scandent Group is selling its majority stake in Cambridge Solutions. Investment bank Lehman Brothers is scouting for buyers for Cambridge which has a large BPO operation in the US. Some US-based funds such as Apollo, Fidelity and strategic players like global IT major EDS have been approached. An information memorandum has also been drafted for the prospective buyers. Cambridge is expected to fetch a valuation of anything above $300 mn, making it the second largest domestic deal in the BPO industry, after the $500 mn sale by General Electric of its 60 % stake in India’s biggest BPO outfit Genpact to Oak Hill Partners and General Atlantic in 2004. At present, the group of original promoters-this include serial entrepreneur Ramesh Vangal, former Pepsico CEO Christopher Sinclair, McKinsey honcho Rajat Gupta, US-Canadian Bronfman family of Seagram fame, the Chanderia family and current CEO Satyan Patel-holds 59.15% stake in Cambridge.