A privately-held company with 1257 employees, Comicrom provides BPO services to banks, insurance companies, pension funds, government bodies and other large corporations in Chile. The company had revenues of US $35.5 million during FY 2005 and operating margins of 14 percent.

Comicrom is the leading player in the Banking BPO sector with a 57 percent market share of the check processing business in Chile and counts more than 70 percent of the banks operating in Chile as its customers.

"This acquisition is a further step in realizing TCS' strategy of acquiring leadership in platform-based BPO for the Banking and Insurance domain. It also expands TCS' capability in terms of becoming a full services player," said S. Ramadorai, CEO & MD of TCS. "Comicrom brings significant capability in transaction-based banking processes and market leadership in Chile", he added.

Following TCS' recent outsourcing engagement with the Pearl Group of the UK, the acquisition of Comicrom further augments TCS' presence in the global Pensions industry. Comicrom is an established player in this sector in Chile, processing 67 percent and 55 percent of total premium payments per month for four of the seven pension funds and health insurance providers respectively. This uniquely positions TCS as a high-end, global player in the Pensions sector.

The acquisition of Comicrom will help TCS pursue robust growth in the Latin American region. TCS previously announced the setting up of a global delivery centre in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to execute the ABN Amro deal in Latin America. This acquisition strengthens its foray in the Latin

American BPO market and boosts TCS' regional staff strength to over 2000 and its client base to over 100.

Gabriel Rozman, president, TCS Iberoamerica said: "Comicrom's long-time presence of over 25 years and strong client base gives TCS ready access to local knowledge of the market as well as provides us with deep customer relationships to help drive growth in this entire continent."

Comicrom and TCS are currently running a successful joint venture in Chile for IT Services, where in Comicrom holds 49 percent of the equity and TCS, the balance 51 percent. As part of this transaction, TCS has also bought out Comicrom's stake in its IT services joint venture in Chile.