Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVC), a business unit of Citigroup Alternative Investments, is investing in Caritor, the US-based IT solutions provider, for joint strategic initiatives.

According to A statement from Caritor here Monday, the fresh investment will help the company to expand its global operations, increase market share and strengthen its capabilities across industry verticals.

"Our success depends on our ability to deliver results to our customers while expanding our footprints. CVC International will act as our investor-partner to grow our market presence and strengthen our core competencies," said Caritor founder-chairman Mani Subramanian.

Commenting on the deal, CVC International head Dipak Rastogi said that in a competitive outsourcing market Caritor had shown its ability to acquire, keep and grow customer relationships.

"As a mid-size player in terms of revenue, we believe Caritor has the potential to emerge as a global leader in the IT industry," Rastogi said.

Caritor or CVC did not disclose the investment being made or the percentage of equity stake the latter will hold.

The 11-year-old company with three development centres each in Bangalore and Chennai is expected to post $85 million in revenues for the calendar year 2004 as against $58 million in 2003.

The California-based Caritor has a track record of developing packaged software products in financial services, insurance, communications, retail, manufacturing and public sector verticals.