Indian Company To Buy Akibia
Thomas Tucker, president and CEO of Akibia Inc., the Westborough-based IT support firm, wasn't necessarily looking to sell the company.
But a buyer came along that the company just couldn't refuse.
Zensar Technologies Inc., the global software and IT company based in India, purchased the outstanding shares of Akibia, which is privately held, for $66 million in late November. The transaction is set to close in the second quarter of next year.
Tucker and Zensar CEO Ganesh Natarajan say they are excited about the mutual benefits the partnership brings to both companies, including an expanded international presence for each one.
Akibia, which has about $100 million in annual revenues, will keep its name, its 350 employees and its company headquarters in Westborough. But it will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zensar, which has more than 5,500 employees around the world.
The move is an effort by Zensar to increase its operations in Akibia's niche, which is infrastructure management.
Overseas Strategy
For Zensar that sector currently only represents about 10 percent of revenues, but Natarajan said he wants to triple that in the coming years. The company's main business focus is building new IT infrastructures for companies, specifically in the manufacturing, insurance and service industries. The company also installs communications systems made by Oracle and SAP, for example.
The Akibia acquisition alone will be a big push toward increasing Zensar's IT support services, but both Natarajan and Tucker expect further growth for Akibia.
Specifically, Tucker said the new partnership will allow for additional multi-shore capabilities.
In an age of global diversity, clients have operations all around the world. So, to be able to hire an IT support firm that can manage operations on a global scale is a huge asset, Tucker said. Akibia already has offices across the United States and Europe, but will now expand into Asian markets as well. Tucker expects to continue to add employees, both in its Westborough headquarters and its Northborough logistics and repair site.
The move also represents a major milestone for Akibia. Founded in 1988 as Polaris, the company changed its name in 2000 to Akibia and now will be a part of an international conglomerate. Zensar Technologies is owned by RPG Enterprises, which owns about 15 other companies with revenues of more than $3.6 billion annually.
To those who follow the United States-India trade closely, the deal hasn't come as a surprise.
"Lately, particularly post U.S.-economic crisis, we've seen a lot of Indian investment, mergers and acquisitions in U.S. companies," said Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council. Somers lived in India for 10 years and has been studying Indian-U.S. business trends since the 1970s.
Other recent U.S.-India deals include a $2.5 billion partnership between IBM and Bharti Airtel Ltd, an Indian telecommunications company. Earlier this year, Reliance Industries Ltd., also of India, announced a $1.7 billion plan to acquire Atlas Energy of Pennsylvania.
Those major business deals were followed by a three-day visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to India in early November to enhance relations between the two countries.
"The sky ahead is blue," Somers said. "These are two of the largest free-market democracies in the world. The partnership is already robust and will only continue to grow."
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