Wipro Ltd, which built India's third-largest software business after starting out as a maker of oils and soaps, said Friday it would buy Singapore-based consumer products firm Unza Holdings for 246 million dollars.

Bangalore-based Wipro signed definitive agreements to acquire Unza in a transaction expected to be completed by the end of July, catapaulting the combined entity into a strong Asian force, the company said here.

Unza is Southeast Asia's largest independent maker and marketer of personal care products, with a presence in more than 40 countries.

Unza has manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. Its sales last year grew 14 percent in dollar terms, well ahead of market growth rates in the region.

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting reported revenues of 8.18 billion rupees (202.5 million dollars) for the financial year ended March, clocking growth of 36 percent. It makes soaps and office furniture and has domestic and commercial lighting businesses.

The purchase is only the latest overseas asset acquisition this year by an Indian firm, attesting to the growing cloutabroad of an economy that grew at a record 9.4 percent pace in the last financial year.