Wipro looks to sell French unit as employee protests mount

Wipro plans to explore options to sell its development centre at Sophia Antipolis, France, because of extensive employee protests against shutting it down.

The issue had snowballed into a major controversy with the involvement of the local French government officials. Wipro had initiated talks to close down the centre that it acquired from Newlogic because of poor demand. The centre employs around 60 people.

“As part of the ongoing process, we will continue to look favourably on any proposal that we may get from interested parties willing to continue part of totality of the activities in the Sophia Antipolis centre,” Pramod Idiculla, general manager (strategy), Wipro Technologies, told ET. The Indian IT firm acquired privately-held Newlogic in 2005 for around $56 million.

A cross-section of consultants ET spoke to said Wipro may find it hard to sell the facility in this environment. “I am not sure, if the Newlogic unit will find any buyers. A safer bet would be to wait for the demand to improve and then take a call,” said a semiconductor design consultant based in Germany.

“These 60-odd engineers may be few in numbers, but any move to sack them will create a public unrest in this region, there’s already pressure on EU countries to ensure that jobs do not go outside the region,” he added.