Big Blue on the prowl again?

Is IBM on the prowl again? If the rumour mills in Bangalore are to be believed, then yes. More than two years after buying Daksh, strong market speculation is linking Big Blue with a Bangalore-based consulting company run by a former software services executive.

Speculation has been swirling around in Bangalore for the past few weeks that the talks are in an advanced stage but we are told that this time the speculation is off the mark.

The target company is preparing for an initial public offering later this year and has no plans to sell. It is not uncommon for big foreign giants to be constantly linked with some take-over or the other.

Citibank, Wal-Mart, Lafarge, Holcim to name just a few would have ended up owning half of corporate India if all the speculation about them had come true. IBM in the past has been linked with various companies including Satyam Computer Services, India’s fourth-largest software services exporter.