Tech Mahindra Ltd said on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Born Group Pte. Ltd and its Indian unit as part of efforts to enhance its consulting capabilities.
The software services company said in a stock-exchange filing it will acquire New York-headquartered Born Group for an enterprise value of $95 million (Rs 671.5 crore). Of this, $25 million will be linked to the achievement of financial targets for the year ending December 31, 2019.
Born Group had clocked a revenue of $50 million in 2018 as compared with $39 million in 2017 and $36 million in 2016.
The all-cash transaction is likely to be completed by November 15, 2019, Tech Mahindra said.
“Digital continues to be the central theme of our acquisition strategy,” said Vivek Agarwal, head of corporate development and portfolio companies at Tech Mahindra.
“The acquisition of Born Group will assert our leadership in the rapidly growing electronic and mobile commerce segment globally, and equip us to deliver enhanced user experience to our customers globally,” Agarwal said.
Avendus Capital was the exclusive advisor to Born Group on this deal.
Born Group, owned by private equity funds True North and Zodius Capital, is an independent, integrated agency for strategy, creative content and commerce offerings with technology capabilities. It has offices in New York, London, Toronto, Tokyo, Singapore, Chennai and Pune. It employs over 1,100 people.
Tech Mahindra’s acquisitions
The Indian software services company has been making acquisitions. In its 2018 annual report, the IT firm had said that it was aggressively setting up and buying platforms.
In July 2019, Tech Mahindra had agreed to acquire a majority stake in US design consultancy Mad*Pow Media Solutions LLC.
In June, the CP Gurnani-led company said it is acquiring Canada-headquartered IT consultancy Objectwise Consulting Group Inc.
In April, the IT firm said it will acquire 18.1% stake each in Infotek Software & Systems Pvt. Ltd and Vitaran Electronics Pvt. Ltd for a total of up to Rs 13 crore.
