Indian outsourcer Wipro said Wednesday that it has not been in talks to acquire or merge with French IT services company, Capgemini.

The statement by Wipro follows reports in the media last month that Wipro was considering acquiring the French company.

Wipro is India's third largest software outsourcer after Tata Consultancy Services, and Infosys Technologies.

Wipro said it was issuing the statement at the request of French securities regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

An Indian newspaper, The Hindustan Times, said in December that Wipro was expected to bid for Capgemini by the end of January, citing unnamed sources. The report pushed Capgemini's share price up, but the bid never materialized.

A Capgemini spokeswoman denied at the time that there were any talks between Wipro and Capgemini on this issue.

Earlier in June, another Indian newspaper, The Times of India, said that Infosys was planning to acquire Capgemini.

Indian IT companies, including Wipro, have shown interest in acquiring companies abroad both to get access to new markets or to add new services.

An acquisition of Capgemini would give an Indian outsourcer access to European markets, but the cultural incompatibilities are too high, said Siddharth Pai, a partner at sourcing consultancy firm, Technology Partners International (TPI) in Houston.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.