New top boss brings MphasiS, HP closer

MUMBAI: 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, as chief executive officer of 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. ���I am not saying it won���t ever happen. But as of now, there have been no such talks. That���s the perception I walked away from after eight sets of interviews,��� he told ET a few hours before assuming charge.

MphasiS is expected to play a key role in helping HP beef up its position in India and compete with rival IBM in IT services, where it still lags behind. 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 no plans to increase HP���s stake or increase business from EDS/HP to MphasiS. Globally, EDS is now a business unit of HP���s Technology Services Group. About 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.