Mahindra Satyam eyes UK buyouts

Outsourcer's European head expects more consolidation as customers look to collapse supply chains

Vikram Nair: We are a billion dollar-plus company in Europe and this makes us one the serious players

Indian IT services giant Mahindra Satyam could look to splash the cash on a UK rival as it builds on “getting its toe in the door” of the public sector.

The company was formed last year through Tech Mahindra’s buyout of rival Satyam Computer Services. Mahindra Satyam’s head of Europe, Vikram Nair, said the IT services space could expect more consolidation.

“I think we will be looking for more acquisitions,” he said.

Nair added that a move for one of the firm’s UK competitors “certainly could be one of the options”.

Tech Mahindra was the UK’s 23rd largest software and IT services provider in 2009, according to research from TechMarketView. The firm’s £340m annual UK revenue put it one place behind behemoth Computacenter.

“We are a billion-dollar-plus company in Europe; this makes us one of the serious players,” said Nair.

He added that enterprises are still looking to aggressively consolidate their supply chain, with one Mahindra Satyam customer recently cutting 75 IT services suppliers down to just seven.

“We are seeing a continuing drive towards cost-efficiency, but we are being invited to the party in every case,” he said.

Mahindra Satyam is “getting its toe in the door” of public sector customers, added Nair.

“We believe we can deliver significant value.”