The Kamla Bhatt Show: Exclusive Interview with Web18 CEO plus Weekly News Update

Last week we reported OnMobile's new round of investment [5]. The final numbers are now in, and OnMobile received strategic financing of $27.8 million from Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Polygon Investment Partners. Merger and Acquisition News: i-flex Solutions has completed its acquisition of Mantas [6], a Virginia-based provider of regulatory compliance, loss prevention and revenue generation solutions company. S. Ramakrishnan of i-Flex is the new CEO of Mantas. The deal was valued at $122.6 million, and partially financed via a new $125 million investment in i-Flex from Oracle. Last year, Oracle acquired a majority stake in i-flex Solutions which is an IT solutions provider in the financial industry with customers in over 120 countries. Telecom News: AT%26#38;T Global Network Services India Private Limited has received approval for National Long Distance/International Long Distance (NLD/ILD) licenses. AT%26#38;T is the first foreign telecom operator [7] to acquire this license in India. AT%26#38;T owns 74 percent of AT%26#38;T India [8], while Mahindra Telecommunications Investment Private Limited owns the rest. In November 2005, the Indian Government introduced changes to the Foreign Direct Investment policy that allow up to 74 percent foreign ownership for companies doing business in the country. ICICI OneSource, an Indian business process outsourcing company, has expanded its global operation. The company opened a 400-seat call center [9] in Buenos Aires Argentina. The company plans to offer Spanish language services from its Buenos Aires operations. ICICI OneSource has global delivery centers in the US, UK, Ireland and India. People on the move: Nandu Pradhan is the new president and managing director of Red Hat India Pvt. Ltd [10]. Prior to this, Mr. Pradhan was Vice President (EMEA and APAC) at Symphony Services. Bessemer Venture Partners [11] in India announced that Anil Sarin has joined their Mumbai as director of public equities. Before joining Bessemer, Anil was co-head of equities at Prudential ICICI Asset Management, which is one of the largest mutual fund companies in India. Bessemer Venture Partners is one of the oldest venture capital firms in the USA. Bala Mahadevan is the new president of Computer Science Corporations India [12]'s operations. Mr. Mahadevan will report to Mary Jo Morris, president of CSC's Global Transformation Services business unit. Mr. Mahadevan will be responsible for the financial and operational performance of the business unit. He will also overlook the management of about 7,000 professionals who provide product development, application management and remote infrastructure services within the region. Computer Science Corporation is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., and is a major provider of systems integration and other IT services. In the US, CSC is a major government and defense contractor. Federal agencies account for about a third of CSC's revenue. [1] http://www.podtech.net/home/india/1059/new-podtech-india-affiliate-kamla-bhatt [2] http://www.tv18online.com/ [3] http://kamlabhatt.wordpress.com/2006/10/07/web18-gets-10-million-in-funding-surya-mantha-new-ceo/ [4] http://www.tv18online.com/people.html#surya [5] http://www.podtech.net/home/india/1209/the-kamla-bhatt-show-weekly-news-update-yahoo-google-expanding-in-india [6] http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2074230.cms [7] http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ustelecom/industryPR-detail.jsp?id=294C4580-3735-4EF6-97EE-D39426941E8C [8] http://www.ap.att.com/products/india.jsp [9] http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=327043%26ssid=54%26sid=BUS [10] http://in.redhat.com/ [11] http://www.bvp.com/ [12] http://inshow less...