UPDATE 2-Sykes to buy ICT Group for $263 mln

* Sykes to pay $15.38 per ICT share

* Price at 46 pct premium to ICT's Monday close

* Says buy will help increase scale and expand reach

* Sykes expects to exceed top end of Q3 earnings outlook

* ICT shares trade below offer price

(Adds details, analyst comments, updates share movement)

By S. John Tilak

BANGALORE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Business process outsourcing company Sykes Enterprises Inc (SYKE.O) said it plans to acquire ICT Group Inc ICTG.O, a provider of customer management and BPO services, for about $263 million in a cash-and-stock deal, to increase scale and expand its global reach.

As per the deal Sykes will pay $15.38 for each ICT share, Sykes said in a statement.

The price represents a premium of 46 percent to ICT's closing price Monday on Nasdaq.

On Tuesday, ICT shares rose to as much as $15.21, but were trading below the offer price, suggesting investors weren't expecting another bid. The stock was trading up 42 percent at $15.02 in early morning trade.

The acquisition comes amid a wave of consolidation in the IT services sector. In September, Xerox Corp (XRX.N) said it will buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc (ACS.N) in a deal valued at about $5.5 billion and Dell Inc (DELL.O) said it plans to buy Perot Systems Corp (PER.N) for about $3.9 billion.

"It's a very strategic acquisition," Craig-Hallum analyst Robert Evans said. "It gets them into the financial services and insurance verticals."

Sykes said it expects to realize synergies of up to $20 million annually. The combined company is expected to generate revenue of $1.2 billion.

"It certainly gives them more size and scale, which should allow them to be able to go after larger deals," Evans said.

On an adjusted basis, the acquisition is expected to add to its earnings per share in 2010, Sykes said.

The Sykes-ICT transaction is expected to close around the end of 2009.

Excluding costs associated with the ICT deal and on a stand-alone basis, Sykes expects to exceed the top end of its third-quarter earnings outlook of 31 cents to 34 cents a share.

Sykes shares were up 4 percent at $20.97 Tuesday on Nasdaq. (Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)