Integreon, the US-based knowledge process outsourcing company with operations in India, has acquired Grail Research, a subsidiary of the US-based Monitor Group, a global advisory firm. Integreon also signed a five-year contract with Monitor Group. The details of the deal size and contract were not disclosed.
Grail Research caters to segments such as technology, consumer products and life sciences. It has close to 35 clients and serves companies like Microsoft, Estée Lauder, the UK-based Virgin Group and a majority of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies. Grail Research is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in addition to its other offices in North America, has offices in Beijing, Delhi and Johannesburg.
The company has 200 employees worldwide. Of which 120 are in India, 20 in China and 20 across the world. Integreon has a total of 2,000 employees worldwide, of which close to 1,200 are in India.
“This is one of the largest acquisitions in the research space. It also catapults Integreon as the leading player in the KPO segment. The acquisition also reinforces the trend of signing big contracts in the KPO industry and the continued trend of captives getting sold,” said Lokendra Tomar, Chief Operating Officer, Integreon. The management of Grail Research, including the Chief Executive Officer and founder, Colin Gouden, has joined the Integreon team.
This is the sixth acquisition for Integreon since 2001. The company is also planning to raise $100 million (around Rs 465 crore) and is in talks with private equity players. “We are raising these funds for acquisitions in the research and captive region. And are hopeful that we will raise this by the end of the first quarter of 2010,” added Tomar. Integreon will close this year with a revenue of $80 million (around Rs 370 crore). It expects to touch revenue of $100 million in 2010.
Integreon will be raising this capital by equity expansion. Currently, close to 70 per cent of the company’s stake is held by Manila-based Avaya Corp. The other 30 per cent is held by four senior management employees.
With the acquisition of Grail Research, Integreon also plans to enter the China market. “Our immediate focus will be ramp up the China operations. It currently has 20 people there. With Grail, we also get capabilities in 35 different languages, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean,” added Tomar.