HCL Tech buys 51% stake in Aalayance

BANGALORE: HCL Technologies has announced that the Board of Directors of the company have approved the subscription of 9.08 million shares in Aalayance Inc., giving HCL Technologies a majority 51 percent stake (on a fully diluted basis). The consideration for this transaction is $1.9 million and the investment will be made by HCL Technologies Bermuda Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of HCL Technologies.

Earlier, in January 2003, HCL Technologies had invested $0.45 million in Aalayance for an initial 15 percent stake (on a fully diluted basis). The investment is part of HCL's initiatives to build expertise and significantly scale up its Enterprise Application Practice.

Aalayance is a business integration (BI) specialist with over four and half years of focused expertise in integrating and extending enterprise systems and processes. The company has one office in Bangalore and another in San Jose, with a total employee base of more than 150. The current annual revenue run rate for the company is in excess of $ five million.

Commenting on the acquisition, HCL Technologies president and COO S Raman said, "The EAI services market has been demonstrating a significant growth trend and at HCL Technologies, we are focused on building scale and depth in this space. Aalayance's expertise in EAI, along with its experience with TIBCO, will further enhance our delivery capability in this area and allow us to provide enhanced value to our customers."