i-flex to buy Mantas for $122 m

Oracle arm to take over US firm in all-cash deal.

i-flex solutions has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the US-based Mantas, an anti-money laundering (AML) software and services provider, in an all cash deal of $122.6 million (around Rs 562 crore).

To fund the acquisition, the Indian company will raise over Rs 581 crore through a preferential allotment of shares to Oracle, which already is a majority stakeholder in i-flex.

"The acquisition enables i-flex to create a market leading risk and compliance solution suite, and expand our portfolio of services in these arena," i-flex solutions chairman and managing director Rajesh Hukku said.

Risk and compliance requirements are getting an increased attention from financial institutions around the world, while AML is also being taken as a serious issue, he said.

i-flex will fund the deal through a preferential allotment of 4.447 million shares to Oracle and raise Rs 581 crore. The pricing of the preferential allotment is sought to be at Rs 1307.50, computed as per Sebi guidelines.

However, the allotment of preferential shares is subject to shareholders' approval and other rules.

Mantas, a Virginia headquartered company offers its Behavior Detection Platform, a solution for detecting risk, enhancing customer relationships and addressing regulatory requirements in AML, trading and broker compliance areas.

The company's customers include top global financial institutions such as ABN Amro, Barclays, Bear Stearns, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

Oracle had acquired bought 41 per cent stake in i-flex from OrbiTech Ltd, a Citigroup Venture Capital International, for $900 million last year.

The company increased its stake to 46.79 per cent stake by acquiring an additional shares from NSE in March this year. Orcale holds 46.79 per cent stake in I-flex. In 2005, i-flex had acquired 73 per cent stake in Castek Software, a Canadian property and casualty insurance solutions firm.

Pursuant to the acquisition, the company had also bagged a three-year multi-million dollar deal from the US.