General Atlantic invests $100 m in Patni

MUMBAI: Patni Computer Systems (P) Ltd., a global IT consultancy and solutions provider, has got $100 million investment from General Atlantic partners, LLC, a global private equity investor. This will enable Patni to accelerate its growth. General Atlantic’s $100 million investment is one of the most substantial investments made in any Indian software company by an international private investment group and is the largest General Atlantic has made in Asia. DSP Merrill Lynch was the sole financial advisor to the deal.

Narendra Patni, CEO, Patni, said, "General Atlantic is able to offer us not only significant capital, but even more importantly extensive knowledge and expertise about the IT industry and the global IT markets. Their long-term perspective on investments and their worldwide presence are both extremely important to us. We are confident that their strategic assistance will greatly accelerate our ability to grow and maintain market leadership."

General Atlantic now has a minority equity stake in Patni. William O Grabe and John Wong, both partners of General Atlantic, will join Patni’s board of directors and provide sustained strategic assistance to Patni in evaluating growth opportunities on a global basis. The new capital will be used to fund internal growth and expansions through selected strategic acquisitions globally.

Patni plans to invest in subsidiaries and branch operations in the UK, multiple locations in Western Europe and Australia in the current financial year. It also intends to consolidate its holdings of its US operations and capitalize upon the fast-growing BPO market.

Wong, commenting on General Atlantic’s commitment to Patni, said, "We are attracted to Patni because of its market leadership, strong management team, superior work quality, customer focus and its opportunity to further expand and grow its operations worldwide. We believe that India represents a tremendous market opportunity. This is particularly true now, when companies are focused on reducing costs and improving processes."

Patni is a software services provider with revenues of over Rs 740 crore. One of the major investor in this company is General Electric that will contribute 50 percent in the company’s revenues this year according to the company officials.