Wednesday 4th December, 2013

India's third largest outsourcing company, Wipro has announced plans to buy US mortgage consultancy Opus CMC for $75m. The company views the purchase as a way of increasing its presence in the financial services sector. Illinois-based Opus CMC employs over 490 people out of five centres in the US.

The cash deal is expected to be completed in 2014 and to be paid out out over the next three years. Wipro last year hired Shaji Farooq previously from rival Infosys to head its banking, financial and insurance services section. According to a report by The Economic Times, the acquisition is part of the Bangalore-based IT service company's efforts to boost its financial services play.

Manoj Punja, the company's senior vice president and BPO head, said in the statement: "This acquisition will help us expand in the high-end mortgage BPO (business process outsourcing) segment, and brings differentiated capability with a platform-based risk management offering.

"Our vision is to leverage Wipro's offerings with Opus CMC's capabilities and knowledge base to create an end-to-end offering for all mortgage players, with a greater degree of automation and application of analytics."

Earier this year the company announced plans to expand its reach in Germany, where it plans to triple its employee headcount over the next three years.