By Jamie Hailstone Indian outsourcing group Tata is rumoured to have made an offer to buy managed services specialist Vertex, despite assurances it is not for sale. The MJ reported last month that United Utilities had hired Merrill Lynch to look at offers from the City for the subsidiary, which has an annual turnover of £400m. Vertex has a number of high-profile local government contracts, including Westminster City Council, Hertfordshire CC and Thurrock Council. The Tata group, which is based in Mumbai, is rumoured to be one of the organisations which is interested in buying the company. The Gloucestershire Echo newspaper has reported it has made an £800m offer for Vertex. United Utilities has received several offers for the company, following the appointment of Philip Green as chief executive in April. A spokesman for United Utilities said Vertex said it was not up for sale, but admitted the company had received a number of expressions of interest in the business. The Tata group was founded by Jamsetji Tata in the mid-19th century, and it is now one of India’s largest business conglomerates, with operations in more than 40 countries across six continents. In 2004/5, the group had a total revenue of $17.8bn, which accounted for 2.8% of India’s GDP. It employs around 215,000 people and exports products and services to 140 countries. Vertex provides back-office functions, such as customer service centres, licensing and library services to local authorities. Its 15-year partnership with Thurrock Council to provide a new customer contact centre is worth £427m. A 10-year partnership with Hertfordshire CC to run its customer services centre is worth £26m. Tim Weller will be joining United Utilities as chief finance officer from next month. j.hailstone@hgluk.com
