Global private equity investor Apax Partners has invested Rs 57.87 crore ($9.8 million) to buy 1.5 per cent stake in Pune-based Persistent Systems Ltd, a software product and technology services provider.
The transaction was through Apax Partners Europe Managers, which has lately got active in buying stake in Indian firms through open market transactions. It is a public market investment vehicle for the PE firm and operates separate from Apax’s core private equity and buyout team.
The fund bought 2,34,300 equity shares at Rs 963.02 each on the National Stock Exchange and 3,66,009 shares at Rs 964.91 on the Bombay Stock Exchange last week.
This is not the first small size deal done by Apax Partners Europe Managers. Last month, it acquired approximately 1.7 per cent stake in another Pune-based IT consulting and product engineering solutions and services company KPIT Technologies Ltd (formerly KPIT Cummins Infosystems) for Rs 55.3 crore ($9 million).
Founded in 1990 by IIT Kharagpur alumnus Anand Deshpande, Persistent develops software solutions in next-generation technology areas, including analytics, Big Data, cloud computing, mobility and social, for the telecommunications, banking & financial services, life sciences and healthcare verticals.
The company has offices and delivery centres across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In India, it operates out of offices in Bangalore, Nagpur, Goa and Hyderabad.
It counts among its shareholders SAIF Partners, Gabriel Venture Partners and Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Government Pension Fund Global among others.
The IT firm posted a net profit of Rs 249.2 crore for the year ended March 31, 2014 as against Rs 187.6 crore in FY13. Consolidated revenue grew 29 per cent to Rs 1,669.1 crore in the same period.
Recently it acquired US-based enterprise social apps startup CloudSquads for an undisclosed amount.
