Quess to acquire Monster India, HCL Infosystems' care biz

Quess Corp today announced the acquisition of e-recruitment platform Monster.com India and HCL Computing Products in two separate deals valued at up to USD 7.5 million (about Rs 48 crore) and Rs 30 crore, respectively.
Quess Corp will also acquire the Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong entities of Monster.com for an enterprise value of USD 6.5 million, it said in a statement.
The transactions are expected to close in the next few weeks, subject to fulfilment of customary closing conditions and required statutory approvals, it added.
"Both the investments are typical of our philosophy of backing strong management teams and finding them a permanent home in Quess while creating long term value for our shareholders and clients," Ajit Isaac, chairman and managing director of Quess Corp, said.

He explained that the acquisition of Monster is aligned with the company's 'Digital First strategy for Business', while the deal with HCL Infosystem's care business marks its "entry into the high growth break-fix market for smartphones, consumer electronics and consumer durables with pan-India presence".
The acquired business of Monster.com has operations across India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

With about 65 million registered users, the company is amongst major players in the online recruitment space.
The Care Business of HCL Services, on the other hand, has over 80 walk-in centres and more than 200 authorised service providers.

"Quess' market leading presence will help enhance our capability to build and implement new and innovative technology platforms to gain edge over competition and hence become a market leader in each of our operating geographies," Monster.com MD (APAC and Gulf) Sanjay Modi said.
Under the deal with HCL Infosystems, the IT firm will first transfer the care business to HCL Computing Products Ltd (HCPL).
Post that, the entire shareholding of HCPL will be sold to Quess Corp and the total consideration for transaction is Rs 30 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed by April 30, 2018.