Mascot to acquire eJiva and Aqua Regia

BANGALORE: Mascot Systems has proposed to acquire Pittsburgh, US-based eJiva and its offshore services providing company, Aqua Regia, based in Hyderabad. While eJiva is engaged in offering solutions in the space of enterprise application services, data management and integration and business intelligence, Aqua Regia is a technology service and consulting company providing offshore services exclusively to eJiva.

However, Mascot’s proposal of acquisition is subject to regulatory and other approvals. Financial details of the acquisitions were not disclosed. The acquisitions are likely to be effective from 1 January 2003. Mascot has constituted a committee of Independent Directors to oversee the transactions as well as to appoint a reputed investment-banking firm to conduct the valuation. The considerations for the acquisitions will be finalised post the valuation.

Once through with the acquisition, the combined entity would have over 145 clients and a strength of over 1,750 technical employees, including over 900 in India at three offshore centers in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. As of the September’2002 quarter, the revenue run-rate for the combined entity would have been approximately $28 million.

In order to supplement the business model and client delivery capabilities both entities will combine their operations. However, from a legal and corporate structure viewpoint, eJiva will be maintained as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mascot, a release informed.

As part of this restructuring, Mascot will be headed jointly by Gerhard Watzinger, Mascot’s current CEO and by Viv Penninti, eJiva’s current CEO, who will both operate as Co-CEOs under the strategic guidance of Sunil Wadhwani, Chairman and Ashok Trivedi, Vice Chairman.

Penninti said, "eJiva’s expertise in Enterprise Application services, Data Management and Integration and Business Intelligence will complement Mascot’s capabilities in broad-based offshore services, Application Maintenance Outsourcing and Embedded software. The combination will serve as a significant differentiator in the competitive marketplace for the combined organisation".

This development will allow the company to extend its offerings through a portfolio of complementary services in a market where size has become an important factor to engage global corporations and bid for large projects. It will strengthen the Company’s value and competitive positioning in relation to its peers in India and internationally.

The acquisition will also augment the company’s client list by adding well-regarded international corporations to its customer profile. eJiva brings well-recognized offshore client relationships with Fortune 500 companies supplementing Mascot’s existing engagements with highly reputed global corporations. The combined entity will have a more diversified client portfolio and serve to reduce the percentage contribution of its top 10 customers.