In its sixth and the biggest acquisition till date, Raman Roy-led Quatrro BPO, backed by US-based hedge fund DE Shaw Group, has acquired British firm Babel Media, a provider of specialist outsourced services to gaming and interactive entertainment industry. While the deal size stands undisclosed the deal value is believed to be in the $100-125 million bracket.
Also as part of the transaction, which is being funded by DE Shaw, the New York-based investment group is picking a minority stake of around 5-10 per cent in Quatrro for an undisclosed sum. Besides this, DE Shaw will also hold a minority stake in Babel and will provide leverage finance for the acquisition. Quatrro will hold a majority stake in the UK-based firm.
DE Shaw is the second external investor in Quatrro. In 2006, Olympus Capital had acquired a large minority stake in the firm for about $100 million.
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, the gaming industry in India is set to grow to $68 billion by 2012. Babel, which provides games-focused localisation, certification, audio and print services across platforms, has 500 employees at Brighton(UK), Los Angeles, Montreal and New Delhi.
As part of the transaction, Algy Williams, Babel’s co-founder will take on the role of a non executive director. Quatrro has roped in former Electronic Arts VP and executive producer Richard Leinfellner as CEO to head Babel.
Apart from this acquisition, Quatrro is also planning a tie up with a US-based company which will be finalised soon. Quatrro is now eyeing bigger deals with acquisitions in the range $50-210 million. In April, Quatrro had acquired Chicago-based RSM McGladrey Financial Process Outsourcing, a leading firm providing accounting service solutions to small and medium enterprises (SME) for an undisclosed sum.
