WNS (Holdings), the second-largest business process outsourcing (BPO) company, announced the appointment of Keshav Murugesh as the Chief Executive Officer and elected him to the board.
Murugesh, who was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq-listed Syntel — a global IT services and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) firm — takes over the company as Neeraj Bhargava, co-founder and CEO, stepped down from the post on January 31.
“This is a great opportunity. It was great to work with Bharat Desai and the team at Syntel. WNS is a great brand, the talent in the company and the market potential is huge. I clearly see a positive recovery for the industry going ahead. I will be fully focused on top line growth, customer centricity, operational and financial metrics, and driving innovation across the enterprise,” said Murugesh to Business Standard.
Bhargava announced his intention to leave the company on January 16, 2009. Along with Harsha Raghavan, former India head for Candover Investments, Bhargava announced the formation of Steer Capital Advisors, a new private equity firm that backs the next generation of Indian businesses. He will remain a strategic advisor to the company.
Murugesh is expected to assume his new responsibilities effective February 19.
“Keshav’s impressive track record is testimony to his ability to delight clients, build a company capable of sustained growth, and deliver superior financial performance — making him the right CEO to lead WNS now,” WNS Group Chairman Eric B Herr said.
His association with Syntel was for over eight years. Prior to joining Syntel as CFO in 2002, he held a range of progressively responsible senior management posts at conglomerate ITC Ltd.
Murugesh takes over at the helm of the company when the private equity investor Warbug Pincus, with a 50.12 per cent share, has expressed plans to exit. The process of sale could not be completed. The company, in a statement on September 17, 2009, had said: “The company completed its consideration of expressions of interest received from interested parties regarding a possible change of control transaction, and has decided not to pursue further discussion.”
When asked about this, Murugesh said: “Well, the investors will do what they have to and they need to figure out that. My focus is to build the brand further and increase the valuation of the company.”
