Zensar buys Akibia for $66 mn

MUMBAI, INDIA: Zensar Technologies today announced its US unit has signed a definitive agreement with US-based PSI Holding, Inc. (Akibia) for acquisition of Akibia. The accord will allow Zensar buy all of the outstanding Akibia’s stock for USD 66 million cash and merge it with the company’s wholly owned US subsidiary.

With Akibia’s buyout Zensar gains the strategic capabilities of infrastructure and information security along with its existing portfolio of remote infrastructure management (RIM) offshore services.

It will allow the Pune-based company to offer business transformation solutions and services in infrastructure management, information security and infrastructure management analytics globally.

“The combination of the two companies will enhance the value Zensar delivers to customers. It is strategic to Zensar, as Akibia is a key player in the infrastructure management space with revenues of over USD 100 million and a robust management team in the US and Europe,” commented Harsh Goenka chairman of RPG and Zensar.

According to Dr. Ganesh Natrajan, Zensar’s vice chairman and managing director, Akibia’s acquisition completes the full cycle of services and solutions in the infrastructure management and information security space.

“It puts Zensar among top 10 infrastructure management outsourcing services providers in India like Wipro, TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, IBM and also provides greater geographical reach in the US and European markets,” said Dr. Natrajan.

According to market reports, the infrastructure management services segment in India is estimated to have aggregated export revenues of USD 4.3 billion for FY2010. India’s share of the offshored remote infrastructure management services is expected to reach around USD 13-15 billion by 2013 from US 5.9 billion in 2009.

The total market of infrastructure business globally is worth around USD 370 billion while the worldwide remote infrastructure management (RIM) market size is around USD 95-108 billion.

Headquartered at Westborough, Massachusetts in US, Akibia was founded by Thomas Willson in 1988 to provide onsite services and support for datacenter, network and security solutions and mission critical information and telecommunication infrastructure.

With over 900 plus end user customers across the US and Europe, Akibia has total 325 staffs. In the last 12 months, Akibia has earned USD 108.5 million revenue.

Akibia will become a new business unit within Zensar and its founder-chairman Willson and also its president and chief executive officer Tom Tucker will join Zensar management board along with 300 plus staffs that will get integrated into Zensar’s Global Delivery model.

Explaining the deal, Dr. Natrajan said the Akibia was the top candidate for Zensar’s acquisition radar for a long time and it brings a better future for both the companies.

“We didn’t have a strong presence in the US in the areas of consultancy, green IT, datacenter management and information security. So this completes Zensar’s story on infrastructure management.”

Zensar has over 5000 staffs serving over 350 customers and has revenue of US$100 million for FY2009-10.