Akshaya Bhargava appointed head of 3i business unit

New Delhi, May 8 (UNI) 3i, Europe's leading venture capital and private equity firm today appointed Akshaya Bhargava as the head of its global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market.

The company's new BPO team will focus on private equity opportunities and will typically invest in profitable companies that manage the traditional back office functions of finance, accounting, HR and procurement services as well as specialist sector outsourcing.

On the appointment, Mr Bhargava said, ''3i has an enviable reputation as a private equity innovator and I think we are very well placed to take advantage of this trend, drawing on our direct BPO management expertise and global footprint.'' 3i is aiming to create a significant presence in the 170 billion dollar global BPO market.

Akshaya (49) was earlier the CEO of Progeon, the BPO subsidiary of Infosys, India's second largest IT services company. He is also an ex-banker, and was with Citibank for a considerable period of time.

Akshaya's task at 3i will be to build a new team to focus on a two-pronged strategy of identifying attractive investment opportunities and leverage offshore BPO for its portfolio companies.

3i engages in Buyouts, Growth Capital and Venture Capital and invests across Europe, US and in Asia Pacific.

UNI RA ARB PM2010