MphasiS delisting not on agenda

[Kalyan]

MphasiS delisting not on agenda

The integration of MphasiS with Hewlett-Packard (HP) has moved a step closer with the appointment of Ganesh Ayyar, a veteran HP executive
of 20 years, to the position of CEO at MphasiS.

Mr Ayyar, who took over on Thursday, said there were no discussions about HP acquiring the remaining stake in MphasiS or delisting the company as of now. "I am not saying it won't ever happen, but as of now there have been no such talks," he told ET a few hours before he took the CEO's chair.

MphasiS is expected to play a key role in helping HP beef up its India position and compete with rival IBM in IT services, where it still lags. When the merger of EDS and HP was announced in May last, investors believed that HP would eventually delist MphasiS.

This has been the case with most multinational acquisitions. Digital India Equipment, a Compaq subsidiary, was delisted when HP acquired Compaq. More recently, Oracle unsuccessfully tried to delist i-flex Solutions (now called Oracle Financial Services).

However, Mr Ayyar said there were currently no plans to increase HP's stake or increase business from EDS/HP to MphasiS. Globally, EDS is now a business unit with HP's Technology Services Group. Approximately half of MphasiS' revenues come from EDS/HP.

"My first job is going to be making the (business) pie bigger. If that means going to EDS/HP, why not? But that's not going to be my primary focus. I will be looking at all areas together with my team," he said.

His appointment to the top job at MphasiS was through a selection process where external candidates and executives from EDS and HP were interviewed by the MphasiS board, Mr Ayyar said.

"I don't see myself as an internal candidate. I had to leave HP and join MphasiS. It is a subtle but important point. In HP, there is a very structured process of looking at talent. So, by the virtue of being one of the 5% of vicepresidents identified as key talent in HP, this was an option for me. To that extent, I was a beneficiary," he added.

Mr Ayyar played a key role in the pre-merger integration planning for HP-Compaq for the Asia Pacific & Japan regions.

source : economic times