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Information Technology services and solutions firm Zensar Technologies, part of the RPG group, said on Thursday that it had acquired US-based Professional Access. While no financial details of the deal were disclosed, it is learnt that the acquisition would be financed by a combination of internal accruals and debt.
With $38 million revenues, Professional Access is one of the largest Oracle ATG and Endeca partners in the world, the company said in a statement. It is an Oracle platinum partner with presence in the US, the UK, Latin America, West Asia and Africa.
“We foresee the company contributing about $10 million on a quarterly basis going ahead. Their Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margins are similar to ours. What is exciting is that the firm is in the fast growing e-retail space,” said Ganesh Natarajan, vice-chairman and CEO, Zensar.
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According to Natarajan, e-commerce adoption among enterprises is a $3-billion opportunity globally. “E-commerce is also moving beyond just the retail sector. With this acquisition, we can grow this segment substantially,” he added.
However, the company did not disclose the size of the acquisition during the analyst call after the first quarter results. The management had said it was scouting for acquisitions in the e-commerce space with a ticket size of $30-50 million.
The acquisition of Professional Access is significant for Zensar as retail is a big play for the firm. Retail as a vertical contributes about 10 per cent to its revenue and after the acquisition, this is expected to go up to 14 per cent. Moreover, this acquisition also strengthens Zensar’s Oracle offerings, as it takes Oracle associates number to 2,200.
“Professional Access’ market leadership in Oracle e-commerce space and its strong management team is strategic to Zensar’s plan to increase its market share in the high growth e-commerce space. The combination of the two companies will enhance the value Zensar delivers to clients in the retail domain,” said Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG and Zensar.
Professional Access founders Babu Venkatesh and Ashu Chahal will continue to manage the company. Their management team and all their associates based in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi national capital region will become part of Zensar. This is the fourth acquisition by the company. Three years ago, Zensar had acquired US-based Akibia, provider of information management services, for a consideration of $66 million.
