The Tatas hope to buy out Swissair’s 75 per cent stake in Airline Financial Support Services (AFS), a joint venture business process outsourcing outfit catering to the requirements of airline and services industry, by the end of the current fiscal.

The Tatas, through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), hold the balance 25 per cent in the venture. S Ramadorai, chief executive officer of TCS, said: “As partners, we have the first right of refusal following Swissair’s decision to exit from the company. We hope to close the deal by the end of the current financial year.”

Ramadorai added that the due-diligence and valuation exercise will be completed soon. “It is a profitable venture for us, and we see considerable value being added,” he said. The venture has around 400 employees.

Globally, Swiss Air has been going through a financial trouble and has been exiting ventures which were not in line with its core businesses.

The decision of the Tata’s to hike its stake in the AFS venture comes at a time when the IT-enabled sector, which includes the BPO segment, is witnessing phenomenal growth with leading multinationals outsourcing requirements to India.

AFS, which began its operations in 1992 with 28 employees, has been one of the earliest entrants in BPO.

Although its core business has centered around airline revenue accounting it also caters to the broad spectrum of the services industry.

Some of its other customers include Qualiflyer, SN Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines among others.

The Tata’s already have a substantial presence in BPO through its 50:50 joint venture with HDFC in Intelnet.

Additionally, the Tatas have a 50:50 joint venture with the US based Sitel Corporation in Sitel India, a call centre.