Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's largest securities firm, paid $11 million for a stake in Copal Partners, which provides research to investment banks. |
The money raised from sale of new shares will be used to expand and to buy "smaller companies in related areas such as securitisation and legal-processing work,'' Rishi Khosla, Copal's chief executive officer, said. The company, based in the UK, has 550 employees, most of them based in India, he said. |
The world's biggest companies are turning to Indian workers as they can tap skills at much lower costs than their peers in the US and the UK. Financial analysts in the country cost as little as a fifth of counterparts in the US, Khosla said. |
"India has the best talent pool,'' said Khosla. The sale of stake "is for the branding and creating long-term partnership with our clients and overall very beneficial for the profile of the business.'' |
Merrill Lynch is the third major investment bank to buy a stake in the closely-held Copal, joining Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, Khosla said. Together, the three own about 25 per cent of Copal, Khosla said. |
Deutsche purchased a stake in Copal Partners early last year and Citigroup bought shares at the end of last year, Khosla said. He declined to provide details, including annual revenue of the firm. |
Copal Partners, set up in 2002, provides information such as valuations, helps profile companies, finds potential acquisition targets, finds potential buyers for companies, and conducts industry analysis that goes in the ``deal book,''Khosla said. |