- WNS was one of the early BPO entrants in the LPO industry.
- Infosys entered the LPO industry about two years back and currently has a team of 500+ employees in their LPO division.
- Wipro BPO made its presence in the industry around the same time as Infosys and has more than 100 employees in its LPO division.

In addition to these companies, several others such as OfficeTiger (one the early entrants), EXL, Caliber Point have entered the LPO industry. More recently, Accentia Technologies Limited, a BPO provider announced its decision to jump into the LPO industry. The company is scouting for acquisitions to enter the LPO industry.

Why the focus on LPO? Over the years, BPOs have built strong relationships with large corporations. Large banks, financial institutions, technology and pharma companies are amongst the biggest consumers (and spenders) of legal services. For instance, Microsoft legal department’s annual budget was approx. $900 million in 2008. BPOs have invested significantly in these relationships and have earned the trust of their clients. It makes business sense for them to leverage their existing client relationships to provide additional (and value added) services to the same clients.

On the other hand, buyers are considering reducing the number of vendors they deal with. This presents an opportunity for BPO service providers, some of whom are looking at bundling BPO and knowledge services.

So far, most of the BPOs have opted to build their capability in this segment organically. However, with larger deals in the market, some of the BPOs that have been slow on building capability and capacity will explore inorganic growth opportunities. Aggressive moves by large BPOs might create some problems (especially in the form of employee attrition) for pure play LPOs. “BPOs in the LPO industry” can be viewed as a threat for pure play LPOs; this is also an opportunity for PE investors in these LPOs looking to exit!