Capgemini, India, Unilever, F&A, BPO

Capgemini India buys 51-per cent stake in Unilever's F&A BPO subsidiary

Capgemini extends its Finance and Accounting Business Process Outsourcing (BPO F&A) capabilities by acquiring from Hindustan Lever Limited (Unilever Group) a 51% shareholding in Unilever India Shared Services Limited (Indigo). The acquisition of Indigo is expected to be consummated in October 2006. The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

At the same time, Capgemini and the Unilever Group enter into a seven-year agreement to deliver the full range of BPO F&A services to the Unilever companies which are current customers of Indigo. Indigo is a provider of financial shared services and Sarbanes Oxley compliance services to the Unilever Group throughout the world. It has operating centers in Bangalore and Chennai and has nearly 600 professionals, including about 75 Chartered Accountants, working in these centers. It currently serves Unilever companies in about 45 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe and North America. Indigo has rich experience of migrating and operating a variety of accounting and financial services across a number of countries and has considerable expertise in servicing the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry.

Mr. D Sundaram, Finance Director of Hindustan Lever Limited and Chairman of Indigo said “the partnership with Capgemini brings global shared services skills and technology to HLL and Unilever. It also enables leveraging the current Indigo expertise and capabilities and represents an exciting opportunity for Indigo employees to extend the business outside of the Unilever Group.”