Mahindra Satyam, SBI Holdings set up $50mn fund

Hyderabad-based IT consulting and outsourcing company Mahindra Satyam, in association with Japanese venture capital firm SBI Holdings (SBIH), has set up a $50-million (Rs 246.4 crore) joint investment fund to invest in ICT companies globally.

The two firms have put in equal amount to raise the fund, which would be used for investing in companies that focus on emerging areas such as mobility, social networking, security solutions and cloud, according to a company release.

CP Gurnani, chief executive of Mahindra Satyam, said, "Investments in enterprise mobility and collaborative applications are the leading IT investment priorities for businesses in 2012 with infrastructure consolidation, virtualisation and security upgrades in the second tier. This path breaking fund, managed by SBIH’s expertise in this domain, will be an accelerator for our growth."

The fund would be subject to regulatory and other approvals.

Kitao, chief executive officer of SBIH, said, “Combining the two firms’ complementary strengths, the fund will create an investment platform which will enable the fund to capture lucrative opportunities in the global ICT sector." SBI Holdings, a global internet-based financial conglomerate, manages more than $3 billion.

The company's scrip is currently trading at Rs 74.4 over the previous close of Rs 74.2.