Softbank Asia Infra invests $22.5 million in CSS Group

US-headquartered Cybernet Software Systems (CSS) Group, which has offshore operations in Chennai, announced that Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) Partners, a leading private equity fund in Asia Pacific, has invested $22.5 million in CSS.

This partnership with SAIF Partners is expected to help CSS strengthen its sales, marketing and its merger and acquisition plans by leveraging SAIF Partner's network.

Shiva Ramani, co founder, CSS Group, told Business Standard that SAIF Partners has identified unique capabilities in CSS and was impressed with the growth reported by the company for the last three years.

CSS has been reporting a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70 per cent in the last two years and it is expected to end this fiscal with 100 per cent growth. It has seen a lot of customer traction as the company hit some unique capabilities, added Ramani.

He also said that the current wave of growth was driven by technology adoption and the return on technology adoption. CSS had developed unique capabilities in this and could help customers increase their profitability. "I think we will be the largest player in the technology adoption mode," he added.

Bullish on its future growth, the group is targeting a revenue of $100 million in the next 18 months, mainly driven by IT infrastructure and application management services.

Ravi Adusumalli, general partner and India operations head, SAIF Partners, said in a company release: this is not an equity investment alone, it is a partnership where we will work closely with CSS management team on market opportunities and growth strategies, be it organic or through acquisitions.

The addition of SAIF as a strategic investor will be a significant catalyst for the future growth of CSS, Ramani said in the release.

SAIF Partners was established in 2001 with strategic investments from Softbank Corporation and Cisco Systems. It focuses on investments in India, China and South Korea in the technology, media and entertainment, telecom and financial services segments. SAIF Partners has US $1 billion under its management, of which it has already invested approximately $600 million.

Founded in 1996, CSS Group, which provides strategic IT services to technology providers and enterprises, has SlashSupport (technology support), ReadyTestGo(software testing), CSS Inc. (software services) and Synaptris(software products) under its fold. The CSS Group has over 3000 professionals with a global presence in 9 countries.