Wipro to acquire hedge fund administrator Viteos Group for $130 million
Wipro Ltd., a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Viteos Group, a BPaaS provider for the Alternative Investment Management Industry for a purchase consideration of USD 130 million.
Wipro currently is one of the leading providers of Business Process Services (BPS) to some of the global investment banks. The company specializes in Platform-led Transformation and Utility-based Offerings in Reconciliation, KYC, Settlements, Middle Office, Asset Servicing, Syndicated Loans and Reference Data Solutions, with coverage across asset classes. These credentials of Wipro are primarily on the Sell-Side and this acquisition will add similar capabilities on the Buy-Side.
Viteos was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey. The Viteos Group provides customized straight-through-processing and integrates post-trade operations across every asset class, currency, border or structure for the alternative investment management industry in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is a leader in shadow-accounting services and offers a full range of middle and back-office outsourcing through its 400+ employees. Viteos licenses its proprietary platform which offers transformation and integration of post-trade operations. This platform can be leveraged to launch solutions across other segments of Capital markets. These technology-based solutions will bring in non-linear and higher revenue realization. Viteos will retain its identity to leverage its brand in the Buy-Side and expand its offerings into the larger asset management industry with the backing of Wipro’s size and presence. The management team at Viteos will continue with the business and drive the platform based outsourcing business services.
"The IT services industry is moving to an 'as-a-Service' model, and the future of BPS is going to be BPaaS (Business Process as-a-Service). Our strategy is to invest in industry vertical platforms which will provide platform-based services to our clients in transaction/outcome-based pricing models. Viteos will further our strategy in the Capital markets domain,” said Shaji Farooq, President & Chief Executive, Finance Solutions, Wipro Limited.
“We welcome Viteos employees to the Wipro Family. We are excited to join hands with Viteos and expand our Capital markets portfolio in fund accounting services and enhance our Business Process Services capabilities,” said Nagendra Bandaru, Senior Vice President and Head – Business Process Services, Wipro Limited. He added, “Viteos brings with it experienced leadership, domain expertise and unique BPaaS capability. We believe we will be able to leverage synergies to offer platform-based transformational services to our customers and continue to dominate the Capital markets outsourcing space.”
“Our search for a global partner who gives Viteos exceptional market reach in expanding our presence while preserving the entrepreneurial characteristics of Viteos culminated with this acquisition by Wipro. We are excited to be part of a trusted global leader and the transaction is a further recognition of our value and validation of our commitment to deliver excellence through our investments in people, process and technology. It gives me immense pleasure in continuing to be part of a growth story that can reach even greater heights,” said Shankar Iyer, CEO & founder of Viteos Group.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and will be completed in the quarter ending March 31, 2016.