MphasiS shares soar on talk parent EDS to be bought

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares in MphasiS Ltd (MBFL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose 16 percent on Tuesday on reports Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was in talks to buy outsourcing firm Electronic Data Systems (EDS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which owns a majority stake in the Indian software firm.

At 0435 GMT, shares in MphasiS, which has a market value of $1.1 billion, were up 10.8 percent at 244.50 rupees, having risen as much as 16 percent to a three-month high of 256 rupees, in a Mumbai market .BSESN that was up 0.7 percent.

HP said it was in talks with EDS regarding a possible business combination. A source told Reuters HP was likely to pay $12 billion to $13 billion for EDS, in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM in technology services.

On April 30, MphasiS, a software and back-office outsourcing services provider, reported a 13.6 percent rise in its March quarter net profit to 714.2 million rupees ($16.9 million).

($1=42.2)

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by John Mair)