Declining to disclose SBS' investment in PMC, T T Srinivasaraghavan, managing director, SFL, said SBS had "paid a fair price reflecting the size and revenues of PMC" and that "it was close to PMC's revenues for 2006-07".

PMC's revenues during the 2006-07 period stood at Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million). SBS has funded the purchase through internal accruals, he added.

"This strategic deal will help to strengthen the positions of both the companies and has doubled our employee strength from 800 to 1,600. SBS chose to pick up a stake in PMC because both companies operate in the BFSI space and in terms of culture and values, we are a perfect fit. With this deal, we will be able to offer the entire gamut of services in the banking, financial services and insurance space," Srinivasaraghavan said.

SBS has 35 clients and with the equity purchase, PMC will bring in six new clients, of which three are Fortune 500 companies. According to Srinivasaraghavan, SBS has another 20 customers in the pipeline.

"In the current fiscal, we expect the combined entity to grow by 25-30 per cent. SBS' revenues during 2006-07 were Rs 17 crore (Rs 170 million), as against Rs 14 crore (Rs 140 million) garnered in fiscal 2006.

Our infrastructure presence consisted of 50,000 sq ft and with the PMC deal, it has increased to 75,000 sq ft. We expect to increase our headcount to 2,000 by the end of this fiscal," P S Raghavan, executive director and head, SBS, said.

S V Krishnamurthy, president and chief executive officer, PMS, said, "The strategic deal will help us to focus on cross selling services. This marriage combines SBS' strong presence in insurance and accounting outsourcing with PMC's capabilities in the BFSI space, specifically in credit card and retail loan processing, thus making the combined entity one of the strongest BPO players in the domestic market."