AT&T, the largest telecom company in the US, has picked up 8.07 percent stake in Tech Mahindra, a telecom outsourcing company which has AT&T as a client. According to a filing with the NSE, AT&T International Inc (FDI A/C) has picked up 9,870,912 shares in the company, in an off-market purchase. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but at todays closing price of Rs. 910.20, the stake would be valued at Rs. 8.98 billion. Update: As pointed out by Gopal Srinivasan in the comments, AT&T also formed a joint venture in 2006 with Mahindra Telecommunications Investment Pvt Ltd, for AT&T Global Network Services India. Note that another telecom major, British Telecom, has stake in Tech Mahindra: as of 31st December 2009, British Telecommucations PLC held 30.86% of Tech Mahindra, while another 8.13 percent was held by Mahindra-BT Investment Co (Mauritus) Ltd. Promoted by the Mahindra & Mahindra group, Tech Mahindra was once known as Mahindra BT. Tech Mahindra provides Business Support Service (BSS) and Operational Support System (OSS), and its clients include British Telecom, MTN, Zain, Vodafone, Starhub, Cisco, among others. From a mobile Value Added Services perspective, TechMahindra also manages CanvasM, a joint venture that the company inked with Motorola in 2006. Last year, Tech Mahindra had acquired control of Satyam Computers after the government initiated an auction. Related: -- AT&T Eyes Minority Stake In BSNL; Why It’s A Bad Call
