US IT firm CSC buys AppLabs

The US-based IT firm CSC today said it acquired Applabs Technologies, a city-based software testing company.

Though both the companies have not disclosed the financials of the deal, sources close to the development said Applabs was valued above $300 million.

Promoters of Applabs hold 40% stake, private equity firm Westbridge Capital holds 50% and employees hold 10%, Applabs Founder and Chief Executive Officer Shashi Reddy told media persons here.

"WestBridge, which had invested $20 million in three rounds, was looking for an exit option and that led us to sell our stake also," Reddy said.

CSC has approximately 92,000 employees across the globe with a large presence in India. The company has revenues of over $16 billion.

"Testing services is currently pegged at $13 billion and is poised to grow at 20% to 2013. With the Applabs acquisition we expect to grow at 20% in terms of number of employees," CSC chief executive officer Michael W Laphen said.

Applabs has an employee base of 2,500 spread across India, he USA and the UK. Its key clients include American Airlines, Experian, JP Morgan, VocaLink and National Australia Bank.

According to Applabs website, Reddy has started two other companies prior to AppLabs. His first company was EZPower Systems, a developer of products for building and maintaining large-scale web applications. EZPower was acquired by DocuCorp and then eventually by Oracle.

Following EZPower, Sashi founded iCoop, a Dotcom Company that went bust. He is also the founder and chairman of FXLabs, a leading developer of high quality game products for PCs, console and online.