Tech Mahindra to acquire Swiss firm SOFGEN Holdings

Company, with this acquisition, will have the capability to offer a unique combination of 'Change the Bank and Run the Bank' services

Tech Mahindra today said it will acquire consulting and services company SOFGEN Holdings, a move that will help India's fifth largest IT services firm strengthen its core banking offering.

The company, however, did not disclose the value of transcation.

The transaction is expected to close by March 2015, subject to regulatory approvals, Tech Mahindra said in a statement.

Founded in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1999, SOFGEN specialises in private, wealth, commercial and retail banking solutions and has over 450 employees.

With this acquisition, Tech Mahindra will have the capability to offer a unique combination of 'Change the Bank and Run the Bank' services to retail banking, private banking and wealth management customers globally, it added.

"This acquisition gives us an opportunity to enhance our expertise to implement modernised core banking and transformation services capabilities," Tech Mahindra CEO and Managing Director CP Gurnani said.

Avendus Capital was the advisor to SOFGEN in this transaction.

"In the past decade, SOFGEN has grown to be a leading player in the niche market segments such as Private, Wealth, Retail and Commercial Banking. Bringing SOFGEN into the Tech Mahindra fold will give us access to new geographies, and a different magnitude of customer relationship," SOFGEN Chairman Alexander Dembitz said.

Acquisitions have been an important part of strategy for Tech Mahindra, which aims to become a USD 5-billion company by the fourth quarter of 2014-15. Since its 2009 buyout of Satyam Computer Services, the company has acquired six companies, besides going for a merger with Mahindra Engineering Services.

In November, Tech Mahindra had announced the acquisition of US-based Lightbridge Communications Corporation (LCC) for an enterprise value of USD 240 million, one of its biggest foreign acquisitions to date.