Mumbai, Nov 14 :    Mumbai, Nov 14:  GE Equity - a subsidiary of the US engineering giant General Electric - has made a strategic investment of $ 15 million in Patni Computer Systems (PCS) in an alliance that will make it eligible for a board berth. Confidentiality clauses in the agreement prevented the company from revealing the precise stake picked up by the US major, but sources say it could be close to 10 per cent of its equity. Merchant bankers, taking a cue from today's announcement, estimate PCS' market value at $ 150 million. PCS chief executive officer Narendra Patni told The Telegraph his company is a strategic supplier to GE, develops state-of-the-art software solutions, apart from maintaining and integrating a part of the US company's legacy systems. Patni Computer Systems, a leading software exporter, services GE through its two dedicated global development centres and over 1,000 professionals in Mumbai. It also offers consultancy services to several organisations in the world. With more than 3,000 professionals working for it, PCS services its clientele through 18 international offices and several state-of-the art development centres in cities such as Mumbai. Patni said his company is preparing itself for a floatation on domestic bourses, expected within six to nine months. Its earlier plan to seek a Nasdaq listing before being traded on local exchanges has been put on the backburner. 'We have to consolidate and recast the equity before the listing,' he added. GE Equity, a subsidiary of GE Capital, is the private equity arm of GE. GE Capital, which has assets of more than $ 345 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company which operates in 28 specialised businesses. The Stanford-based GE Capital offers services in the area of equipment management, specialised financing activities like insurance, and a variety of consumer services such as car leasing, home mortgages and credit cards.