Mahanagar Gas Limited Ventures into #Renewable #Energy

Acquires 26% Stake in the Solar Power SPV, FPEL Reliant Energy Private Limited for ₹3.89 crore

Mahanagar Gas Ltd. (MGL), a city gas distribution (CGD) company said it has signed a Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) and Shareholding Agreement (SHA) with Fourth Partner Energy’s FPEL Reliant Energy Private Ltd. and its holding company FPEL Saur Vidyut Private Ltd. on to acquire a 26% stake in FPEL Reliant for ₹3.89 crore.

The investment will support the setting up of a solar power plant in Maharashtra and this makes MGL’s foray into solar energy.

 

The acquisition is compliant with regulatory requirements related to power consumption under the Electricity Act, 2003 (read with the Electricity Rules, 2005. By integrating renewable energy into its operations, MGL aims to strengthen its commitment to sustainable business practices and reduce the carbon footprint associated with its operations.

 

Commenting on the company’s foray into renewable energy, Ashu Shinghal, Managing Director, Mahanagar Gas Limited said, “Mahanagar Gas Limited is continuously exploring opportunities to integrate cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions into its operations. Our foray into solar energy is a step towards adopting cleaner energy sources for our CNG station network while optimising energy costs and meeting regulatory requirements. As we continue to expand our footprint within the state of Maharashtra and beyond, incorporating renewable energy solutions will remain an important part of our long-term growth strategy.”

 

The acquisition will be completed through a cash investment and is expected to be finalised within six months from the execution of the agreements. Following completion, FPEL Reliant will become an associate company of Mahanagar Gas Limited.

 

Jay Kumar Waghela, CEO (Distributed Business Unit), Fourth Partner Energy said, “We at Fourth Partner Energy are proud to partner with Mahanagar Gas Limited in its endeavour to integrate renewable power into their operational ecosystem and supporting India’s transition towards cleaner energy solutions. Corporates across various sectors are boosting their use of solar and other renewables to lower carbon emissions and promote a greener environment. At FPEL, we are proud to offer all integrated clean energy solutions including solar, wind, battery storage, hybrid power and carbon credits on a single platform to help players like MGL fast-track its net zero goals. We are thrilled and look forward to this new journey with MGL.”

@cequity buys majority stake in #Bengaluru based D-Square Solutions

In a statement, customer marketing company Hansa Cequity has said the acquisition will strengthen its data science and help its aviation business vertical.

Hansa Cequity buys majority stake in #Bengaluru based D-Square Solutions pic.twitter.com/xPDdDN2Mty

— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) July 23, 2016

Ajay Kelkar, co-founder and chief operations officer of Hansa Cequity said Hansa will try and build its team organically in two broad areas which include data sciences and customer loyalty to increase its digital capability and also its consulting business.

Hansa Cequity had raised around $5 million (Rs.30 crore) from private equity firm ASK Pravi in June 2015.

Founded in 2009, Bengaluru based D-square solutions brings together business analytics products and consultancy solutions to help optimise time spent on informed decisions.

@Persistentsys acquires Australia’s PRM Cloud firm for an undisclosed amount

Pune-headquartered Persistent Systems has acquired PRM Cloud Solutions  a Salesforce partner and cloud application development firm, for an undisclosed sum.

@Persistentsys acquires Australia’s PRM Cloud firm for an undisclosed amount pic.twitter.com/0Q09E7ouU6

— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) March 15, 2016

“This acquisition further strengthens our ability to lead our customers on their journey to digital with Salesforce as one of those key platforms,” said Anand Deshpande, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent Systems.
PRM primarily focuses on healthcare, construction and property management, with key customers that include Honda, Rio Tinto, Furniture Options, Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA), Synergy and Workpower.

#Amazon funded @housejoyindia acquires personal fitness tech startup 'Orobind'

Home services provider Housejoy which recently closed a 23 million funding round led by Amazon, has acquired Orobind, an 'at-home' personal fitness tech startup for an undisclosed amount.As a part of the deal, HouseJoy has acquired the trainers of Orobind, the customers base and the technology. The entire Orobind team will also be moving to Housejoy.

#Amazon funded @housejoyindia acquires personal fitness tech startup @Orobind pic.twitter.com/eEuoTTElqd

— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) February 17, 2016

Talking about the acquisition, Saran Chatterjee, CEO at Housejoy said, "The acquisition is a part of our strategy to become leaders in this categories with high repeat order rates. With this acquisition we are looking to create a differentiated lifestyle experience for our customers across beauty, fitness and wellness categories."

"For Orobind it gives us an opportunity to be a part of a larger 'at- home' services play and build a very large wellness category. For HouseJoy it gives them the depth it requires to be the largest player in the overall wellness category,” said Satya Vyas, Co-Founder at Orobind.

Housejoy is operational in 13 cities across India and has raised 4 $Million funding in series A from Matrix Partners and has raised 23 $Million in series B led by Amazon and included new investors Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm and Ru-Net Technology Partners.

#TAKE Solutions buys #Ecron Acunova for Rs.115 cr.

TAKE Solutions Ltd. Ltd.announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire a Life Sciences Services player, Ecron Acunova (EA) for Rs.115 cr.

#TAKE Solutions buys #Ecron Acunova for Rs.115 cr. pic.twitter.com/mfwZyUIolh

— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) November 18, 2015

This association will enable TAKE add expertise in the areas of Biosimilars, Regenerative Medicine and Diagnostic imaging agents space which are emerging growth areas. This will help TAKE move the addressable market for its services to 30 bn $. It will also significantly enhance presence in Europe and Nordic countries, according to a press statement by the company.
Srinivasan H.R., Vice Chairman & Managing Director, TAKE Solutions said, “Globally, there is a growing focus on quality, data, analytics and outcomes in the industry, resulting in increased pharma/biotech R&D spending and funding. This acquisition will enhance our addressable market from 15.9 bn $ to over 30 bn $ by 2019, giving us great headroom for growth.” He further added, “TAKE & EA’s combined attributes will strengthen our position as a fully integrated differentiated Life Sciences services provider to large and small global pharmaceutical companies and thereby broaden the addressable market.

#Birla Corp to acquire two cement plants from #Lafarge India for Rs.5000 cr.

Cement major Birla Corporation Ltd., the flagship Company of the M P Birla Group will acquire Jojobera and Sonadih cement plants from Lafarge India Private Limited (Lafarge India) for an enterprise value of Rs.5000 crore. The acquisition would be funded through existing cash reserves and incremental debt. KRISCORE Financial Advisors and SBI Capital Markets Limited were financial advisors and Nishith Desai Associates acted as counsel to Birla Corp for this transaction. The acquisition is subject to approval of Competition Commission of India and other relevant regulatory authorities.

Birla Corp, established in 1919, is part of the MP Birla Group with presence across cement and jute; cement constitutes over 90% of the company's revenues with a total operational cement capacity of -10 mtpa, it has units in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Post completion of this transaction, Birla Corp will have a total capacity of -15 mtpa. With addition of these brands to its existing basket of brands, Birla Corp will derive synergy benefits through consolidation of its capacity.

TalentSprint Acquires Bengaluru-based Java Learning Center

TalentSprint, a professional skill development and integrated talent management company recently acquired Bengaluru-based Java Learning Center (JLC) for an undisclosed amount. JLC specialises in offering advanced programming courses in Java and related technologies to new job seekers and young professionals, and is the preferred brand in Bengaluru for aspirants seeking employment in the IT sector.
"With the acquisition of JLC, we expect to significantly accelerate the creation and deployment of skilled IT professionals in Bangalore, India’s largest IT hub. With increasing margin pressures and global competition, IT firms are keen to recruit skilled programmers using a cost-effective, just-in-time model. This transaction is going to increase their choices considerably,” said Santanu Paul, CEO and MD TalentSprint.Nexus Venture Partners-backed TalentSprint is a National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) partner. It offers employability programmes to professionals by using experiential learning and Ipearl. Ipearl is a virtual interactive platform for employability and remote learning. TalentSprint claims to have ‘graduated’ around 1,00,000 professionals in the IT and BFSI sectors.Recently, NSDC invested $1.57 million in TalentSprint for an undisclosed stake in a Series B round of funding. The transaction was advised by Tathva Capital Advisors, a consulting and advisory firm.

SILA acquires controlling stake in Envocare Pest Control Services

SILA Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a fast growing company in the Real Estate services space has acquired 51% stake in Envocare Pest Control Services in a contract swap and cash deal. The move also marks SILA’s entry intothe fast growing B2C home services segment.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. SahilVora, Founder& Managing Director, SILA Solutions Pvt. Ltd, said, “As part of the unique contract swap and cash deal, we have transferred all existing SILA pest control contracts which were with multiple vendors to Envocare.For SILA, this is an efficient way to inorganically grow our service lines within facility management, and also allows us to cross-sell multiple services to create economies of scale.”
“The home services market in India is growing at a rapid pace and offers tremendous opportunities. The Envocare acquisition is a strategic move which marks our entry into the fast growing B2C home services segment. In addition to expanding our service offerings within facility management, we eagerly look forward to penetrate the B2C home services market with our wide range of services,” said Mr. RushabhVora, Co-founder&Director, SILA Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Founded byDr.Shantanu Paul and DilipMurkute,Envocare caters to residential building, commercial spaces and infrastructure projects. Its elite clientele includes India’s largest amusement park -AdlabsImagica, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre; developers likePiramal Realty, Omkar, Raheja, Neelkanth and over 1000 homes as annual maintenance contracts

#Cognizant to buy TriZetto for $2.7 billion

Cognizant on Monday announced that it will acquire US-based healthcare technology & operations company Trizetto for about $2.7 billion in cash. "With more than $3 billion in combined healthcare revenue, Cognizant and TriZetto will serve nearly 245,000 healthcare providers," a press release from Cognizant said.
"Healthcare is undergoing structural shifts due to reform, cost pressure and shifting responsibilities between payers and providers. This creates a significant growth opportunity, which TriZetto will help us capture," said Francisco D'Souza, CEO of Cognizant.
Cognizant's healthcare business, which accounted for about 26 percent of total revenue in 2013, has declined in the last three quarters.
TriZetto provides information technology services, including care management and the administration of benefits. The company said it reaches 245,000 healthcare providers, representing more than half of the insured population in the United States. 

#Sonata buys US-based SAAS travel IT services firm

Sonata Software through its wholly-owned subsidiary in North America has acquired a controlling stake in California-based Rezopia Inc.. In a separate transaction, Sonata Software has purchased the businesses of a Bangalore-based company Xyka Software Private Limited which is the primary service provider to Rezopia.
Rezopia runs a cloud based SAAS travel IT solutions platform for end-to-end reservations, contracts, operations and distributions management for travel providers.
Srikar Reddy, MD & CEO of Sonata Said “This is aligned to our strategy of strengthening one of our focus verticals of travel and tourism combined with IP and platform led services. We believe the Rezopia platform combined with the strong management team and travel domain specialist will further strengthen our competitive position in the travel vertical.”
"This partnership allows Rezopia and Sonata to pool strengths to emerge as technology providers who can help travel enterprises access solutions that blend innovation, agility and scale to meet their business needs,” said Rakesh Hegde, Founder of Rezopia.

TE Connectivity completes acquisition of Telecom Business of #RPG Enterprises

TE Connectivity (TE) has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the telecom business of Raychem RPG (RRPG), a joint venture company co-owned by TE and RPG Enterprises. The acquired business will now become part of TE's Network Solutions segment.

As part of the acquisition, TE recently inaugurated the new manufacturing facility in Vasai, Mumbai, which will be the hub for telecommunication engineering services supplying the fiber market in the Southeast Asia region. With this acquisition, TE strengthens its local telecom engineering and manufacturing expertise in India.

“We aspire to become the market leader in the telecommunications sector and the acquisition will further strengthen the foundation of our company, which is admired for outstanding customer service, technology leadership and product innovation,” said KK Shetty, director, India and SAARC, Network Solutions, TE India.

RRPG was established in 1989 by Raychem Corporation and RPG Enterprises, and has completed 25 successful years in India. TE acquired Raychem Corporation in 1999, and the operations were run as a 50-50 joint venture between TE and RPG Enterprises. The joint venture company manufactures and markets cable joints, transformers and insulation products in the energy space which will continue and remain unaffected.

Aspire Systems completes acquisition of SRA Systems and its US Subsidiary, 3S

Aspire Systems, a global technology services firm with a strong presence in Product Engineering, today announced the signing of a transfer agreement with SRA Systems and its US Subsidiary, 3S. As a result of this agreement, the services business of SRA will move to Aspire and over 120 people from SRA will now become a key part of Aspire’s team. This transaction will strengthen Aspire’s existing Product Engineering Services portfolio with the capability to design and optimize hardware products. Aspire will add 15 new customers to its portfolio and increase its revenue by 20%.


Aspire Systems will now be able to offer new Engineering Services capabilities in New Product Development (NPD), Engineering R&D and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). This transaction will also help Aspire gain a strong foothold in the Automotive, Manufacturing and Medical Device sectors.

Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Gowri Shankar Subramanian, Chairman and CEO, Aspire Systems said, “Aspire has its roots in Product Engineering. This transaction is an extremely strategic step for us as it complements our existing capabilities in product engineering and reinforces our position as a leader in outsourced product development (OPD). The top management of SRA Systems will become a key part of Aspire and play critical roles within the organization, helping integrate the teams and driving further growth. Along with many other synergies due to this transaction, we can now count Apple, Forest Labs and Gymboree as our customers!”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. V. Kannan, Joint Managing Director and CEO, SRA Systems, said, “Aspire has strong Product Engineering capabilities with proven solutions for global enterprises. We truly believe that this association will add great value to our existing customers. We will now have a broader portfolio of services for our customers and also open up new career opportunities for our employees.”

IKYA Group acquires Hofincons Infotech & Industrial Services

IKYA group has announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire Hofincons Infotech & Industrial Services from Transfield Services. ‎The industrial asset management company is the country’s largest specialist single point industrial asset management company with interests in electrical, mechanical & instrumentation services and hard services in facilities management. The company also provides IT enabled technical consulting services to industrial clients around the world.

Speaking about the acquisition, Ajit Isaac, Chairman of the IKYA Group commented that we are excited about finding a permanent home for Hofincons and its people. The company that has a stellar track record in India, is a market leader and is well positioned to expand its market share.  The IKYA Group sees it as a strategic fit and has synergies with its hard services business. The acquisition will further strengthen IKYA’s position as India’s leading player in the business services space.

Mr. L. Sekhar, GM of Hofincons India said, “In IKYA we have found a partner, who will enable us to realize our true potential as a global scale asset management company. Our domain expertise backed by IKYA’s strategic vision will combine to help create a truly transnational company at Hofincons.”

‎As a result of this acquisition, Hofincons will benefit by having a long-term, financially strong shareholder since IKYA is part of the multinational Fairfax Financial Holdings Group, held through it's Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook India Limited.

The transaction is expected to complete pursuant to customary closing conditions.

#Seagate To Acquire LSI’s Flash Businesses From Avago

Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX), a world leader in storage solutions, and Avago Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: AVGO), a leading semiconductor device supplier to the enterprise storage, wired, wireless and industrial end markets, announced that they have entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement under which Seagate will acquire the assets of LSI’s Accelerated Solutions Division (“ASD”) and Flash Components Division (“FCD”) from Avago for $450 million in cash.

The acquisition strengthens Seagate’s strategy to deliver a full suite of storage solutions, providing Seagate with established Enterprise PCIe flash and SSD controller capabilities to deliver solutions for the growing flash storage market. LSI’s ASD business, which is the second largest player in the PCIe flash space, offers a highly differentiated enterprise-grade PCIe flash solution focused on the high-growth cloud and hyperscale markets. LSI’s FCD business, led by its SandForce SF2000 and SF3700 controller products, is driving a multi-product roadmap to address volume markets.

“Seagate is committed to providing our customers with a complete range of storage solutions, and this acquisition will significantly enhance our flash storage offerings to supplement our existing portfolio,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman and CEO. “LSI’s ASD business has the broadest PCIe flash product offering and intellectual property in the market today and the FCD business has best-in-class SSD controllers with proven support for a wide range of applications. This acquisition immediately boosts Seagate’s range and depth of flash storage capabilities today, and these teams bring to Seagate the expertise to accelerate our roadmap in this important and growing market.”

In fiscal 2015, Seagate would expect the combination of its enterprise SSD product line and these SSD Controller families to generate revenues of at least $150 million and be slightly accretive to the company gross margin with operating margin headwind of $30 to $40 million. As Seagate drives operational synergies and leverages its SSD technology into its product portfolio, the company would expect the operating margin contribution from its SSD business to be neutral to positive in fiscal 2016 and beyond.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2014, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, including those required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

#MasterCard Acquires ElectraCard Services

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Opus Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.,  (“Opus”) to acquire its subsidiary, ElectraCard Services Private Limited, (“ECS”), a leading global provider of software solutions and processing services for electronic payment and card systems. MasterCard previously had a minority investment in ECS. This transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2014.

ECS, headquartered in Pune, India is a leading provider of software products and processing services for electronic payments. Its customer base includes financial institutions, retailers and telcos in over 25 countries globally. ECS’ suite of products enables customers to issue and manage all types of payment cards and electronically process card transactions across multiple channels such as ATM, POS, internet and mobile.

MasterCard’s acquisition of ECS extends its product offerings and adds to the company’s turnkey issuing processing, acquiring processing and switching solutions.

Commenting on the acquisition, Vicky Bindra, president, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard, said: “The acquisition of ECS strengthens our capabilities and enables us to offer a true end-to-end solution for our customers. ECS’s expertise complements MasterCard’s products and services, making us an even stronger player in the field of processing and switching. We welcome ECS and its talented team into the MasterCard family, and we look forward to working alongside them.”

Ramesh Mengawade, Chairman of Opus said: “We have had a strong relationship with MasterCard for many years now and are excited that the ECS team will be part of MasterCard enabling it to deliver turnkey processing solutions to its customers. Opus will continue its focus on growing its IT services business for the credit and payments market in the North America region."  

Kirusa Acquires Cooltok (also known as Plusray)

 Kirusa, a leader in voice and social media solutions for emerging markets, today announced that it has acquired the business of Cooltok (also known as Plusray). As a result of this transaction, Kirusa has acquired all the technology, workforce, and intellectual property of Cooltok.
The Cooltok team, based in Bangalore, and led by Founder and CEO, Sreenivas Karanam, has extensively worked on mobile messaging apps for smartphone platforms, and shares Kirusa’s vision for a mobile connected world. The Cooltok team, including the CEO, and co-founders Prakash Kaja and Thomas Mathew, will join Kirusa’s office in Bangalore.
Kirusa develops voice and social media mobile apps for emerging markets. Kirusa’s InstaVoice™ app offers a stunning user experience to mobile users by seamlessly integrating telecom messaging such as SMS, Voice SMS, missed calls and voicemail, with OTT messaging such as texts, pictures, location, videos, and group chat, through its partnerships with dozens of mobile carriers around the world.
The Cooltok app, available on Google Play store, shares the goals of InstaVoice. With this acquisition, Kirusa is looking to accelerate realization of it vision of bringing the next generation of messaging apps that deliver unparalleled value to mobile users, made possible by working together with mobile carriers around the globe. The acquisition also strengthens Kirusa’s intellectual property in the area of mobile apps.
Sreenivas Karanam, Founder and CEO, Cooltok, added, “The IP based technologies that we developed for mobile apps, when combined with the product portfolio of Kirusa and the reach of its partner base across continents, will enable us to address a huge opportunity going forward. We are excited to join Kirusa and be a part of its vision to be the leader in this space.”
Speaking about the acquisition, Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO, Kirusa, says, “The technology developed by Cooltok’s team, as well as their knowledge and experience, will be invaluable in delivering the third wave of messaging apps that look to combine the benefits of the carrier services with the benefits of the OTT services. Kirusa is expanding globally and we will continue to make use of opportunities for partnerships and acquisitions that will help us realize our vision of providing seamless messaging and social media experience to all mobile users, regardless of their devices, and regardless of their mobile network.”

About Kirusa
Kirusa is the leader in voice messaging and social media mobile apps that enable mobile subscribers to “Have a Voice!” and share their stories with their family and friends across the globe. Kirusa’s solutions include the hugely successful InstaVoice service, used monthly by over 80 million mobile users in four continents. Kirusa solutions are built on its patented technology, and its highly reliable and scalable open multimodal platform, which processes over one billion events a month. Kirusa has been recognized as one of top 100 technology companies by Silicon India, and one of top 25 emerging technology companies by Smart Techie magazine. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has offices in four continents. InstaVoice is a registered trademark of Kirusa, Inc.

About Cooltok
Cooltok is a Bangalore based start-up focused on developing technologies for mobile messaging applications on smartphone platforms. The prototype Cooltok application, available for download from Google Play store, combines technology and innovation with a seamless user experience for text and voice chats, group chats, picture and file sharing sharing, and phone calls. The Cooltok technology works with any data connection.

Embassy-Blackstone JV buys Vrindavan Tech Village (VTV) in #Bangalore

Embassy Office Parks today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Vrindavan Tech Village (VTV), consolidating its position as a   leading private owner & operator of Business Parks in India. The park has been renamed as Embassy TechVillage.  Embassy Office Parks is an equally owned joint venture between Bangalore based Embassy Group, India’s leading commercial property developer and funds managed by The Blackstone Group L.P.  (“Blackstone”).
Embassy Tech Village is a 106 acre development and is strategically located at the heart of Bangalore’s IT corridor, on the Outer Ring Road. Embassy Office Parks has acquired the controlling stake in Embassy TechVillage with a valuation of INR 1951 crores. This deal is pegged as one of the largest commercial real estate transactions in India.
Commenting on the acquisition, Jitendra Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director, Embassy Group, said, “Blackstone and Embassy came together with a common vision to create world class office spaces and enable business communities to drive greater efficiency and growth. This set the tone to creating Embassy Office Parks which, post the Embassy TechVillage acquisition, will boast of over 20 million sq ft of commercial real estate space. We now have over 150,000 park users across 4 business parks and enjoy strong and robust tenant relationships with over 100 blue chip, MNC and Indian companies in the portfolio”
Michael Holland, Chief Executive Officer, Embassy Office Parks, stated, “Embassy TechVillage perfectly complements our existing business parks at Bangalore - Embassy Golf Links and Embassy Manyata Business Park - allowing Embassy Office Parks to offer a range of premises options across strategic business locations in Bangalore. Embassy TechVillage is planned as an integrated project with commercial components as well as retail and residential spaces.  It has a potential built-up-office area in excess of 15 million sq ft, with 1.9 million sq ft already completed. We will also be constructing build-to-suite office spaces for a number of our potential clients, both SEZ & non-SEZ to help them optimize their costs and derive better value.”
Tuhin Parikh, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Real Estate Group, said “We are delighted to partner with the Embassy Group and co-lead the aspiration of creating, owning and managing some of the finest business parks in India. The acquisition of Embassy TechVillage is a significant milestone in strengthening our Embassy Office Parks portfolio and expanding our footprint across the country.”
Comprising more than 20 million sq. feet of commercial space, the Embassy Office Parks portfolio includes business parks in Bangalore such as Embassy Golf Links at Domlur, Embassy Manyata Business Park at Hebbal, as well as Embassy TechZone at Pune. With over 100 clients, and several of the Fortune 500 companies situated at these parks, Embassy Office Parks is a pioneer in the leasing model for commercial space as well as developing integrated office parks across the country.
Redwoods Projects was the sole transaction advisor for this deal.
About Embassy Group
Embassy Group is one of the leading property developers in India with a track record of over 28 years in real estate development.  Embassy has an extensive land bank across the country and has developed over 35 million sq ft of prime commercial, residential and retail space in India as well as Malaysia and Serbia. Embassy’s portfolio of real estate developments spans the commercial, residential, retail and hospitality segments of the real estate industry. While the commercial real estate business includes the development of business parks for the IT/ITeS sector, SEZs and corporate office space. Embassy’s ongoing residential projects include luxury apartments, villas and integrated townships. Embassy’s residential projects are also designed to obtain IGBC Green Homes gold ratings as part of the efforts towards creating sustainable developments.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, the companies we advise and the broader global economy. We do this through the commitment of our extraordinary people and flexible capital. Our asset management businesses include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, hedge fund solutions, non-investment grade credit, secondary funds, and multi asset class exposures falling outside of other funds’ mandates. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services.

Dimension Data acquires #US based IT service provider #Nexus

Dimension Data, the USD6 billion ICT solutions and services provider today announced that it has acquired 100% of Nexus for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Valencia, California, Nexus is a privately-owned provider of advanced IT solutions serving enterprises, mid-sized business and public sector clients, with industry specializations in education, retail, hospitality and healthcare.

The acquisition of Nexus expands Dimension Data’soperations in the US by 40%, and significantly increases the company’s presencein theWest, Southwest and Southeastregions of the country.As a result, clients will now have access to a deeper network of experts and a broader portfolio of solutions.Nexus has 19 offices inCalifornia, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Texas, Georgia,Florida, and North Carolina.

Brett Dawson, CEO of Dimension Data plc said, “The acquisition of Nexus is a significant strategic step inenhancing the Group’s geographic coverage and depth of skills and capabilities to supportour clients.  For over three decades, Dimension Data has been building expertise and experience in ICT solutions and services that deliver real business value to our clients. Nexus increases our ability to support both our US-based and global clients with West Coast presence.”

Earlier this year, Dimension Data Americas was named to the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in the US. This recognition highlights Dimension Data as an employer of choice and reinforces its commitment to recruiting, engaging, developing and retaining its employees. With the company’s continued growth, Dimension Data is seeking talented people who aspire to accelerate their ambitions.

Mark Slaga, CEO of Dimension Data Americas, said, “Both organizations have a people-centric culture with a strong focus on delivering a great client experience. I am very excited to welcome 657 talented Nexus employees to the Dimension Data family. Together, the assets of both companies position Dimension Data as one of the leaders in the provision of services and solutions in the ICT sector across the US. Nexusbrings a rich set of services and solutions to the Group, particularly in the data centre, collaboration, enterprise networks, security and cloud spaces. In addition, there’s minimal overlap of geographies and clients which strengthens Dimension Data’spresence across the Americas.”

Nexus CEO Deron Pearson said, “We are pleased to join the Dimension Data family. This acquisition is a fantastic milestone in the history of the company, and a tremendous endorsement of our employees as well as the excellent solutions and services that Nexus provides. I am very excited about the opportunity for our clients to tap into Dimension Data’s solutions and services, particularly the opportunity for us to extend new cloud capabilities, IT outsourcing and additional managed services on a global basis.”

Pearson will report to Slaga and continue to lead the Nexus business. Nexus President and COO Waheed Choudhry will continue to run Nexus’ day-to-day operations, reporting to Pearson.

On 3 February this year, Dimension Data announced it had acquired 100%of NextiraOnefor an undisclosed sum. NextiraOnedesigns, installs, maintains, and supports business solutions and communications services for private and public sector clients.The company has1,850 employees in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

CommonFloor.com acquires Flat.to

CommonFloor.com, India’s number 1 real estate portal announced today that it has acquired Flat.to, a real estate service that helps students and bachelors find flats, paying guest accommodation and hostels across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kota, Jaipur and Delhi. Based out of Mumbai, Flat.to was founded by Gaurav Munjal and Aakrit Vaish in 2013. The portal also provides assistance in finding a flat mate, in case one has already identified suitable accommodation.

With this move, CommonFloor.com is set to enter the student / bachelor accommodation space, which is fast gaining traction across major metros in the country. Earlier this year Commonfloor.com had raised $10.4 million from Tiger Global and Accel Partners. Flat.to currently has a tie-up with over 200 colleges across Mumbai and Pune and offers a choice of selecting an accommodation either through brokers or directly by connecting with owners.

Sumit Jain, Co-founder and CEO, CommonFloor.com said, “CommonFloor.com has always strongly focused on fulfilling every possible property information need of users at all stages of the property cycle – search, research, purchase, property management, sale and rent. By acquiring Flat.to we will now be able to cater to a new segment of the property market – students and bachelors. This is a large segment in the online real estate space with a unique set of needs and requires a different focus. This move gives us a direct foothold in the market backed by a great team that has an experience of operating in this space. Flat.to will continue to function independently with its current identity and Gaurav will continue to head it. We extend to him a warm welcome and wish him all the best.”

Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder and CEO, Flat.to said, “It has been about 10 months since Flat.to officially launched, with the simple aim of simplifying student accommodation. Starting with Mumbai, we have now helped thousands of students across multiple cities in India find flats and flat mates. Our goal is to be present in every part of the country. With this in mind, today we are excited to announce that Flat.to has been acquired by CommonFloor.com, India’s largest online real estate platform. We engaged with CommonFloor.com a few months back, and found that their team believed in our vision and shared our values. CommonFloor’s experience in the real estate market and guidance will help take the company to the next level and we look forward to working with Sumit and team.”

With this acquisition Aakrit Vaish, Co-founder, Chairman and Lead investor at Flat.to will exit the company. Sharing his thoughts, Aakrit said, “Flat.to was started with the very simple idea of simplifying student housing. I’m proud of what we have been able to achieve in less than a year of operation, and wish the team all the best as they grow to the next level. I will always remain their biggest fan.”

Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel Partners (Company that has invested in CommonFloor.com) said, “The acquisition is in line with CommonFloor.com’s strategy to own the largest share in the online real-estate space. CommonFloor.com is already the #1 player today and this move is aimed to take a lead in some of the adjacent segments. I firmly believe that this partnership will add immense value to us & the online real-estate space in India.”

The opportunity for online real estate players in bachelor / student accommodation category is huge. According to a January 2014 research paper, Internal Migration for Education and Employment among Youth in India, commissioned by UN-HABITAT’s Global Urban Youth Research Network, in the last ten years a total of 37 lakh between the ages of 15 and 32 migrated within India on account of education. Similarly, more than 1 crore moved in search of a job.

Apart from expanding its current set of offerings to its users, CommonFloor.com continuously strives to offer easy-to-use tools and most innovative technology. Having recently announced its mobile application for Windows, android and Apple mobile devices, CommonFloor.com recently launched its e-model feature. The feature allows users to have a 360 degree virtual view of the interiors of an apartment.

About CommonFloor.com

Launched in 2007 by Sumit Jain, Lalit Mangal and Vikas Malpani, CommonFloor.com, is an innovative online service that combines property search, research, apartment management and vendor management thus catering to a person’s complete residential requirements.

From searching for an apartment to facilitating interactions within an apartment community on the CommonFloor.com platform (now known as CommonFloor Groups), to connecting one to relevant service providers, the portal is dedicated to meeting all aspects of consumers’ needs around their home. CommonFloor.com has over 2.5 lakh property listings and over one lakh projects from 120 cities. The company has been funded by Accel Partners and Tiger Global.

To know more about CommonFloor.com, please visit: http://www.commonfloor.com

About Flat.to

Launched in 2013 by Gaurav Munjal and Aakrit Vaish, Flat.to is a search portal dedicated to helping students and bachelors find, flats, paying guest accommodation and flat mates across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kota, Jaipur and Delhi. From being a product that showed curated flats near colleges, Flat.to has evolved into a complete accommodation solution for students. Features like ‘paying guests, hostels, finding flat mates, flats without brokers, profiling brokers who look at student segment’, have constantly been added. Flat.to has thus helped thousands of students across India. Headquartered out of Mumbai the company has tie ups with more 200 colleges in Mumbai and Pune. With 5000 users on Facebook alone it has over 25,000 visits a month. Acquired by CommonFloor.com in April 2014, Flat.to continues to function as an independent entity.

To know more visit http://www.flat.to

Aspire Systems Announces the Acquisition of Applied Development

Aspire Systems, a global technology services firm with a strong focus on Independent Software Vendors, today announced the acquisition of Applied Development, a Belgium-based IT offshoring company that develops software for  European customers in India. This acquisition will help Aspire expand into the European market, particularly in the Benelux region (includes Belgium, Netherlands & Luxemburg), with a recognized client base created by Applied Development.

Applied Development was founded by Bipin Nambiar and Ivan Vercruysse in Belgium. With a headcount of fifty employees in India and Belgium, Applied Development recorded a 45% increase in revenue last year. The company is known for its best practices in software development and provides services for    product development companies & enterprises to build professional software cost-effectively. Applied Development’s business model is based on a combination of European project management and Indian development. The company has a strong client base in Continental Europe and has established solid long-term relationships with customers.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Gowri Shankar Subramanian, Chairman and CEO, Aspire Systems said, “The acquisition of Applied Development is of strategic importance to us. Expanding our geographical presence to Continental Europe will enable us to win more customers in this important market. With this acquisition, Aspire Systems now has a truly global presence in the US, UK, Middle East, India and Europe enabling us to serve customer needs across the entire world.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Bipin Nambiar, Managing Director, Applied Development said, “We are very pleased to become a part of Aspire Systems. The additional skillsets & technology capabilities of Aspire will enable us to offer more services to our existing customers & to the Benelux market. Applied Development’s deep insight & expertise into the local Benelux market will enable Aspire to grow its presence in the region. Both companies share a very similar philosophy to bring high quality technology services to the global market & create a great workplace.”

Following this full acquisition, Applied Development will be renamed Aspire Systems N.V.. Applied Development’s current teams will continue to drive the existing business and the development team will move to Aspire’s state-of-the-art campus in Siruseri, Chennai. Mr. Bipin Nambiar has been appointed as Director of Benelux & Ivan Vercruysse as Director of Technology at Aspire Systems N.V..

This is the second acquisition by Aspire Systems in the last four months. The company announced the acquisition of Hyderabad-based Versant Technologies in December 2013, enhancing the company’s solution capabilities for the Retail, Distribution and Consumer Goods vertical. In 2011, Aspire acquired Cincom System’s India Development Center at Gurgaon.


About Aspire Systems
Aspire Systems is a global technology services firm serving as a trusted technology partner for its customers. The company works with some of the world's most innovative enterprises and independent software vendors, helping them leverage technology and outsourcing in Aspire’s specific areas of expertise. Aspire System’s services include Product Engineering, Enterprise Solutions, Independent Testing Services and IT Infrastructure & Application Support Services. The company currently has over 1,400 employees and over 100 customers globally. The company has a growing presence in the US, UK, India, Middle East and Europe. For the fourth time in a row, Aspire has been selected as one of India’s ‘Best Companies to Work For’ by the Great Place to Work® Institute, in partnership with The Economic Times.

For further information, please visit: www.aspiresys.com
 
About Applied Development
Applied Development is a Belgium-based IT offshoring firm that develops software for European companies in India. It works with a combination of European project management and Indian software development. Applied Development approaches software development as a discipline in its own right and provides services to companies, end-users and product development companies, to build professional software cost-effectively. This involves using the right kinds of processes and procedures to achieve the best results with respect to quality and price.

For further information, please visit: www.appdev.be