FirstMeridian Business Services Pvt Ltd, a human resource (HR) investment platform backed by private equity firm Samara Capital, Goldman Sachs and Janchor Partners, has bought RLabs Enterprise Services Ltd, an IT (information technology) staffing and consulting firm for an undisclosed amount marking its sixth acquisition since its inception in 2018, FirstMeridian said in a statement on Monday.
RLABS, a platform providing staff augmentation, IT consulting and managed services, claims to have around 1,200 employees having expertise in SAP technologies, AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics, mobility, cloud computing, enterprise storage, and data base administration. The company also claims to have a customer base of more than 25 companies.
“RLabs is one such renowned enabler with credible reputation among its marquee global clients, bringing in its deep tech knowhow of SAP stack and emerging technologies, and a very seasoned management team. RLabs will further strengthen our abilities to setup and manage Offshore Delivery Centres (ODCs) for our global clients besides providing traditional IT Staffing,” said Anurag Gupta, President, IT Staffing, FirstMeridian.
FirstMeridian said that India is witnessing high growth in technology hubs or captives being set up by global companies as the country has advantages like skilled workforce, favorable operating environment and language skills, citing a Frost & Sullivan report. The company said as of early 2021, more than 40 captives were in different stages of development in India with Covid-19 accelerating digital adoption across end user segments. FirstMeridian claimed 150-200 new companies are expected to set up captives in India over the next three years, which will create 300,000 – 350,000 technology jobs.
“FirstMeridian’s deep market relationships in technology staffing space and pan-India presence with over 50 branches and approximately 3,500 deployment locations will enable RLAbs in setting up full-fledged delivery centres in multiple geographies, extending our SAP competency offerings to the domestic market,” said Vinodh Venkatesan, Chief Executive Officer, RLabs.
The company had first acquired Innovsource Services and V5 Global Services for an undisclosed amount, in July 2018, VCCircle had reported. In October 2018, the company acquired Affluent Global Services Pvt Ltd, marking its third acquisition in three months. In July 2020, the company acqui-hired a business unit of HR Cornucopia Pvt Ltd, which became a part of V5 Global, the company had said. Later that year, the company acquired CBSI India Pvt Ltd, an IT-focussed staffing firm set up by a technology services entrepreneur Raj Vattikuti.