Thomas Cook gains as subsidiary enters North American market

Thomas Cook (India) rose 2.47% to Rs 149.25 at 14:12 IST on BSE after the company's subsidiary IKYA Group announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Brainhunter, subject to statutory and regulatory approvals.

The announcement was made during market hours today, 18 September 2014.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 454.26 points or 1.71% at 27,085.55.

On BSE, so far 69,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 1.89 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 151.75 and a low of Rs 145.10 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 160.80 on 27 August 2014. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 55.05 on 18 September 2013.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 17 September 2014, surging 10.63% compared with the Sensex's 2.02% rise. The stock had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, advancing 26.65% as against Sensex's 4.35% rise.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 25.41 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Thomas Cook (India) said that the acquisition of Brainhunter (Zylog Systems (Canada)) will help IKYA position itself as a global IT staffing and technology solutions group, with a strong footprint in the North American market. Brainhunter services several marquee clients, many of whom are in the Fortune 500 list and in addition counts on a number of Canadian government institutions as its major clients.

Speaking on the acquisition, Ajit Isaac, Chairman & MD, IKYA Group said, "Brainhunter is a terrific brand with a solid management team that will serve as a spring board around which we will build our IT staffing business in North America. The combination of Brainhunter's knowledge and depth in American markets along with IKYA's financial strength and execution capability will enable the creation of a market leading global IT staffing company".

John Mehrmann, CEO, Brainhunter said, "We are pleased to be part of IKYA which in turn is a Fairfax Investee Company. To be a subsidiary of India's largest IT staffing company will give us access to the largest technology talent pool in the world, an advantage that few companies in Canada have. We are excited to be on this growth trajectory and the new capabilities that we will now have to offer to our valued clients".

Brainhunter (Zylog Systems (Canada)), headquartered in Toronto (Canada), is a leading IT and engineering professional firm, employing about 700 professionals and with revenue of about $80 million.

Thomas Cook (India)'s consolidated net profit jumped 43.4% to Rs 46.60 crore on 82.7% growth in net sales to Rs 549.12 crore in Q2 June 2014 over Q2 June 2013.

Thomas Cook is an integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include foreign exchange, corporate travel, mice, leisure travel, insurance, visa & passport services and e-business.

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