Icra arm buys US tech firm

Kolkata-headquartered Icra Techno Analytics Limited (ICTEAS), a unit of rating agency Icra Limited, will buy California-based BPA Technologies, a business consulting and software technology services firm, for about $16 million.

ICTEAS has paid $8 million for 50.1 per cent of BPA.

The rest will be paid in two tranches over three years.

The acquisition would help ICTEAS establish a footprint in the California region, said P K Choudhury, vice-chairman and group CEO of Icra.

“ICTEAS has its clients across the globe: in the US, the UK, Asia and Africa. The business now requires a larger presence in the US than we currently have, and BPA gives us exactly what we need. The skill sets of the two companies are complementary, and there is significant convergence in terms of the industry verticals that ICTEAS and BPA focus on,” said Choudhury.

BPA’s turnover for the year ended December 31, 2011, was about $10 million. In India, BPA has development centres in Chennai and Visakhapatnam, and a sales and customer service centre in Singapore.

“BPA and ICTEAS have global delivery models and both are focused on offering innovative and cost-effective solutions to clients across industry verticals. What this means is, the scope to scale up is now considerable, and, just as importantly, avoid the costs of reinventing the wheel,” said Murali Peruvemba, President, BPA.