Ybrant buys Israeli firm for $13 mn

Hyderabad-based e-marketing solutions company, Ybrant Technologies, is acquiring Israeli online media solutions company, Oridian, for $13 million (approximately Rs 52 crore).

A definitive agreement has been signed in this regard, which is yet to get the final approval from Oridian's shareholders.

While $1 million has been paid to a trust account of Oridian for the definitive agreement, $2.5 million has to be paid at the time of closing the deal in a week. Around $6 million would be released in 90 days from the date of closure and the remaining in nine months from then, M Suresh Reddy, chairman and managing director of Ybrant, said here on Tuesday.

Oridian, a privately-held company based out of Israel's IT hub "� Herzliya, has 60 shareholders. While 10 per cent of the equity is owned by Chief Executive Officer Jacob Nizri and his management board, the rest is held by Israeli venture capital firms including Challenge, Infinity Fund and Invitech, through which the company raised $6.3 million in 2001. The eight-year-old company posted revenues of $20 million last year.

"This synergy will bring 60 employees of Oridian into the Ybrant fold, taking its total to 320. Besides, it enables Ybrant to enter new markets including Germany, the UK, France, Argentina, Australia, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands," Reddy said.

The acquisition of Oridian comes close on the heels of Ybrant acquiring the US-based online ad-network firm AdDynamix for $10 million (around Rs 40 crore) early this year. It acquired US-based MediosOne and VoloMP, the flagship product of Seenietix, Serbia, last year for an undisclosed sum.

Globally, the digital marketing space is pegged at $35 billion, while it is at $40 million in India, which is expected to touch $160 million in the next three years.

To consolidate its position in the digital marketing arena via inorganic growth, the company is scouting for more acquisitions abroad, especially in the lead generation and search engine marketing space.