US-based ECE likely to snap up Infowavz stake

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 13 April 2004, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: ECE Holdings, a US-based technical support services firm, is in talks to buy out the promoters’ stake in Infowavz, an ICICI Ventures-funded call centre firm. If discussions between ECE and Infowavz — and Infowavz’s single largest investor ICICI Ventures — fructify, it will be ECE’s third buyout of a BPO firm, sources said. ECE Holdings has been active in India after it signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% ownership of Stream International from Solectron in March. After the merger of its operations with Stream, ECE is estimated to have 19 contact centres with a capacity of over 10,000 seats. The company has announced its intent to acquire Bangalore-based call centre firm iSeva. “We are in discussions to acquire another India-based outsourcer. We hope to be able to announce our plans in the near future, but in the meantime, cannot comment on Infowavz or ICICI,” Katherine Dockerill, vice president, marketing and business strategy, ECE Holdings told ET. Infowavz has been looking for a strategic investment since October ’03 with the intention of raising capital. The Mumbai-based voice and email call centre firm raised $7m in its first round of funding from ICICI Ventures and was planning to raise another $6m in its second round. (Source: Economic Times)