HCL Technologies, SEP to buy Actian Corporation for $330 million

In one of the biggest acquisitions, the country’s fourth-largest software exporter HCL Technologies and Sumeru Equity Partners (SEP), a private equity firm, have signed a definitive agreement to acquire US company Actian Corporation in an all-cash deal, valued at $330 million. This the sixth company HCL has acquired in the US.

HCL will own 80 per cent stake in the joint venture that has been formed, with SEP holding 19.5 per cent and Rohit De Souza (Actian Corporation CEO) owning 0.5 per cent, HCL said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

“Actian will play a critical role in enhancing HCL’s Mode-3 offerings in data management products and platforms. Actian’s products, when combined with HCL’s Mode-2 offerings like cloud native, digital and analytics, among others, will be a powerful proposition to harness the power of hybrid data,” C Vijayakumar, president and chief executive officer, HCL Technologies, said.

For more than a decade, the company has been invested in expanding its on-ground operations in the US. It is one of the few companies that has over 12,000 employees in the country, most of whom are US citizens. In an earlier interview to Business Standard, Vijayakumar had said because of a largely American workforce in the US, his company would face the least headwind if there were policy changes in the immigration and visa norms in the country.

The latest acquisition, HCL says, would help the company acquire a new set of customers.

INSIDE THE DEAL

| HCL to acquire Actian Corporation in all-cash deal for $330 million 

| This the sixth company HCL has acquired in the US

| HCL to own 80%, SEP 19.5% & Rohit De Souza (Actian Corporation CEO) to have 0.5% of the JV

| Actian will operate as a separate entity within HCL Technologies 

| HCL Technologies will have majority representation  on the Actian board of directors

| SEP managing directors George Kadifa and Sanjeet Mitra will join the board at closing

Palo Alto-based Actian is into hybrid data management, cloud integration and analytics solutions. “This acquisition will add cutting-edge intellectual property to HCL’s capabilities to enable global enterprises’ digital transformation journey,” the company said.

Actian will continue to operate as a separate entity within the HCL Technologies’ ecosystem, led by De Souza. “The combined force of HCL’s next-generation products, platforms, and services; SEP’s experience in scaling enterprise software businesses; and Actian’s tradition of innovation in data management, data analytics, and integration technologies will enable customers to tap into the disruptive potential of their data and deliver tangible business results,” De Souza said.

HCL Technologies, as the majority stakeholder of this strategic acquisition, will have the largest representation on the Actian board of directors, and SEP managing directors George Kadifa and Sanjeet Mitra will also join the board at closing.

“After working over the past decade to scale up Actian into one of the leading hybrid data management platforms, we are pleased that the company is being acquired by HCL and SEP to take it to the next level,” said Terence J Garnett, co-founder and managing director, Garnett Helfrich Capital, which is currently the majority owner of Actian Corporation.