Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the country''s top software exporter, is close to acquiring two firms in Latin America for about Rs 200 crore, newspaper reports said, citing unnamed sources. TCS is also planning to explore the option of merging some of its group companies.

"It makes sense merging some of the group companies. However, Tata Elxsi is into animation and will be a standalone business," Tata group chairman, Ratan N Tata told the company''s second annual general meeting.

He, however, did not specify any name. IT solutions provider CMC, Elxsi and Tata Technologies are the other IT companies of the group.

The company management also announced a capex of Rs1,400 crore, up Rs235 crore from the Rs1,165 crore spent during the previous financial year. TCS managing director and chief executive officer S Ramadorai said that Rs300-350 crore would be spent on technology, while the remaining would be set aside for IT infrastructure.

"It is a matter of concern to us as to anyone who is into exports. But as offshoring is becoming a critical business strategy among the US, European and Latin American companies there will be some balancing act," Ratan Tata said.

"We are looking at expansion of our Latin America centre. But this will be through organic growth," added Ramadorai.

Answering a shareholder''s concern on why Indian IT companies cannot be the next Microsoft or Cisco of the world, Tata remarked: "This is something that I have been discussing with Rama (Ramadorai). But I feel that products come from markets that are close to such market places and US provides that market. We might look at creating a product group in US and treat it as a venture capitalist activity by TCS."

The Tata group company, he added, is aiming to become one of the top 10 global IT companies by 2010.

Report, meanwhile, said the company has completed due diligence of the targeted companies in Latin America. The estimated value of these two firms is said to be around Rs200 crore, with a headcount of 100 each.

In May, TCS, whose clients include General Electric Co. and ABN AMRO, said it had set up a software development centre in Mexico to serve local clients and provide near-shore services to US customers.

In all, TCS has set up operations in 14 countries, including major centres in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, employing over 5,000 persons. Revenues from its Latin American operations touched $159 million (around Rs650 crore) in 2006-07.