Cigniti Tech to raise $10 mn for buyout

Company raised Rs 12 crore through a preferential share allotment towards the end of last year

Cigniti Technologies Limited (formerly Chakkilam Infotech Limited), a city-based independent software testing company, is looking at raising $10 million (approximately Rs 54 crore) either through a preferential allotment to the existing shareholders or through a private equity placement to fuel its inorganic growth plans.

“We are looking for acquisitions to augment our testing capabilities and bring in new clients and geographical areas. We are in advanced stages of negotiations with a US-based company and expect to complete the fund-raising and acquisition process in the next three to six months,” Sriram Rajaram, executive vice president (operations) of Cigniti, said.

Chakkilam Infotech, had in 2011, acquired US-based Cigniti Inc in an all-stock deal. Post the merger, it rebranded itself as Cigniti Technologies Limited. The 15-year-old company went public in 2004 and is now listed on the BSE. Cigniti has raised Rs 12 crore through a preferential allotment towards the end of last year.

The company recently inaugurated a mobile test lab (or competency unit) at its Hyderabad facility, where it offered proprietary mobile and ‘on-the-cloud’ testing platforms. “The lab allows to test applications on existing platforms like iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows and the ‘soon-to-launched’ Firefox OS. Right now, around 10 of our clients are using this lab, and we expect to sign up another 15 next fiscal,” he said.