GTL divests IT biz to France Telecom unit

Network services company GTL has sold its information technology business, mainly managed network and enterprise services, to a unit of France Telecom.

Although the formal announcement comes today, the deal had been widely
anticipated. It will give the French company a foothold in the Indian telecom services space. Other companies in the fray were believed to be British Telecom, US-based EMW and a number of systems integrators.

GTL had decided to hive off its IT business to concentrate on its core
business.

Its IT business has 250 clients in the IT, ITeS and BFSI segments, and
employs about 1,000 people.

Recently, GTL had announced a buy back of shares worth Rs 285 crore at Rs 300 per share through the tender route.