Apax buys 23.2% stake in Zensar

Private equity (PE) firm Apax Partners bought 23.2 per cent stake in Zensar Technologies, an RPG group company, from Electra, a London-listed private equity firm, for Rs 834 crore.

RPG Group will continue to be a majority shareholder, with 48 per cent stake.

The transaction was done by Marina Holdico, on behalf of Apax, from Electra Partners Mauritius, a subsidiary of the UK unit. Electra had invested $9 million in 1997 in the group.

"The transaction is between two PE players. But getting Apax on board is a big positive for the company, shareholders and employees," said Ganesh Natarajan, vice-chairman and chief executive, Zensar.

Natarajan also said that getting Apax on board will allow the company to be more aggressive in its inorganic growth strategy.

"Electra had a board position and so Apax will also have representation. Having them on board means they will manage the transactions as well as help us get access to more targets for mergers and acquisitions," he added.

The company has been aggressive in expanding its network for some time. Last year, the firm had bought a US-based Oracle platinum company Professional Access. The company said it will continue to do so in the future.

“We aim to scale the company into a top 10 Indian technology services business through a combination of organic growth and M&A. With Apax’s track record in the technology services space, Zensar is expected to benefit through access to a wider global customer base and best practices,” said Harsh Goenka, chairman of Zensar and the RPG Group .

“To date $11 million has been returned to Electra by way of dividends and sale of shares,” according to a commentary on Zensar website.

 With over 8000 employees, and 400 plus clients , Zensar is among major Indian IT players and is placed at number 13 ranked by industry body National Association for Software Companies (Nasscom).

It has operations in the US, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Singapore and Australia with delivery centers located at Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore (India), China,UK, and US .