New York: Wipro Ltd, India's largest listed software conglomerate by sales, is looking to buy a large information technology consultancy in the US, its chairman Azim Premji has said.

Wipro, listed with American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange, is talking to the top management of "a few" US companies, he said in an interview to the 'Wall Street Journal' in London published on May 16.

"We have a market cap of $ 8 billion in the US, so we have the currency to do it," Premji said. But he cautioned that a deal was not imminent.

He said Wipro, which has a strong presence in consumer care and lighting products besides software services, is looking primarily to buy an information technology consulting company, but declined to name any potential targets.

"If we do a successful acquisition, we will gain critical mass," Premji said. "We are a little below critical mass today."

Local media reports, the Journal said, have suggested that Wipro may be in the running to buy the consulting arm of accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

PTI