DQ estimates

The e-Serve de-listing finally took place this year reiterating the fact that large global banks prefer having captive offshore facilities-Citibank only followed the path already trodden by American Express, Stanchart, HSBC and ABN-AMRO amongst others. The reverse book building method envisaged in SEBI's new de-listing regulations worked out well in this case-Citibank had to agree with investor demands and shell out 22% more than the outflow it originally conceived.

Though this valuation worked out to 27 times based on e-Serve's FY 2003-04 earnings, the scale up achieved by the company in H2 of 2004-05 following the de-listing showed that investors really missed out on one of the most successful growth stories of Indian BPO. This was possible owing to the exports revenue growing at a much faster clip-the Citigroup endorsement that India is its top offshore choice in the AT Kearney Survey guaranteed the success. e-Serve during the year was servicing five of Citigroup's nine product lines and also the non-English world across more than 40 countries including Bulgaria, Romania and Cameroon.