Mascot is headquartered in Bangalore and has taken over Scott's Pune operations. This follows the rechristening and restructuring going on at the US-based iGate Capital. A 11-year-old company, Scott Systems was one of the largest IT recruiting companies in Asia and was re-sourcing software professionals for overseas careers.

Scott had crossed the 1,000 mark in international projects hired during 1997 and 1998. It was also a major people resource centre for Mastech Worldwide, where 65 per cent of employees were sourced from Scott. Scott's turnover during 1998-99 was Rs 8.63 crore. This business will now be handled by Mascot which takes over the Pune operations. Santhanam and his core team will be moving out to create a new company, the name and business of which will be announced after seeking mandatory approvals. For now Scott will remain a subsidiary of the $500 million igate capital, but the company will no longer work only for iGate. The new company will independently scout for business both in the global and domestic markets.

Initially all the investment requirements of Scott will be met by iGate, Santhanam says. He envisages an investment of around $three million in a year's time for his new business. iGate has committed investments to the tune of $25 million in India for acquisitions and expansion.