Fairfax-controlled Quess Corp to buy out Tata Sons from BPO unit

By Narinder Kapur

  • 28 Dec 2020
Credit: Reuters

Bengaluru-based Quess Corp Ltd is set to buy out Tata Sons from a BPO unit acquired by the Fairfax Group-controlled business services provider about three years ago.

Tata Sons is exercising its put option on the stake, Quess said in a stock-exchange filing.

Conneqt Business Solutions Ltd – previously known as Tata Business Support Services Ltd – was acquired by Quess in November 2017, with the company picking up a 51% stake in the unit for Rs 153 crore ($23.5 million).

Per VCCircle calculations based on the price paid for the majority stake acquisition, the Bengaluru-based services provider will dole out around Rs 150 crore ($20.4 million) for this deal.

Conneqt was set up as Tata Business Support in 1995. According to its website, current CEO is Neeraj Tandon, who has previously held executive positions at HCL and IBM.

The company offers clients digitally enabled services in customer lifecycle management and business process management. It has more than 29,000 employees and serves sectors including automotive and manufacturing, shipping and logistics, banking and financial services, and utilities and energy.

Shares of Quess were trading 0.98% up at Rs 470.05 apiece at the time of writing this report. The company reported consolidated net sales of Rs 10,991.48 crore for the 2019-20 financial year, with net losses of Rs 431.87 crore for the same period.

Quess was founded by Ajit Abraham Isaac and was acquired by travel company Thomas Cook in 2013. Thomas Cook itself was acquired in 2012 by Fairfax, which is controlled by the India-born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa.

In October last year, Quess appointed former McKinsey & Company employee Suraj Moraje as an executive director and group chief executive officer-designate

Other acquisitions the company has done in the past couple of years include the India, Southeast and West Asia units of jobs portal Monster.com, as well as HCL Infosystems Ltd after-sales services business for consumer electronics and mobile phones.

In August this year, VCCircle reported that the company had decided to sell its last-mile logistics unit to a business process outsourcing and voice services company.

Tags: Quess Corp Ltd, Tata Sons, Conneqt Business Solutions Ltd, Tata Business Support Services Ltd, BPOBengaluru-based Quess Corp Ltd is set to buy out Tata Sons from a BPO unit acquired by the Fairfax Group-controlled business services provider about three years ago.

Tata Sons is exercising its put option on the stake, Quess said in a stock-exchange filing.

Conneqt Business Solutions Ltd – previously known as Tata Business Support Services Ltd – was acquired by Quess in November 2017, with the company picking up a 51% stake in the unit for Rs 153 crore ($23.5 million).

Per VCCircle calculations based on the price paid for the majority stake acquisition, the Bengaluru-based services provider will dole out around Rs 150 crore ($20.4 million) for this deal.

Conneqt was set up as Tata Business Support in 1995. According to its website, current CEO is Neeraj Tandon, who has previously held executive positions at HCL and IBM.

The company offers clients digitally enabled services in customer lifecycle management and business process management. It has more than 29,000 employees and serves sectors including automotive and manufacturing, shipping and logistics, banking and financial services, and utilities and energy.

Shares of Quess were trading 0.98% up at Rs 470.05 apiece at the time of writing this report. The company reported consolidated net sales of Rs 10,991.48 crore for the 2019-20 financial year, with net losses of Rs 431.87 crore for the same period.

Quess was founded by Ajit Abraham Isaac and was acquired by travel company Thomas Cook in 2013. Thomas Cook itself was acquired in 2012 by Fairfax, which is controlled by the India-born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa.

In October last year, Quess appointed former McKinsey & Company employee Suraj Moraje as an executive director and group chief executive officer-designate

Other acquisitions the company has done in the past couple of years include the India, Southeast and West Asia units of jobs portal Monster.com, as well as HCL Infosystems Ltd after-sales services business for consumer electronics and mobile phones.

In August this year, VCCircle reported that the company had decided to sell its last-mile logistics unit to a business process outsourcing and voice services company.