IT firm Mastek selling entire stake in Majesco’s US unit

By Bruhadeeswaran R

  • 13 Dec 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

Software services provider Mastek Ltd said on Friday it has sold two-fifths of its holding in Majesco Ltd’s American subsidiary for $15.94 million (Rs 112.8 crore) and plans to divest the remaining stake.

Mastek offloaded about 2 million shares, or a 4.7% stake, in Majesco USA at $7.97 apiece, it said in a stock-exchange filing. The company retains a little more than 3 million shares that it intends to sell in the “ensuing future”, it said.

In a separate filing, Majesco Ltd said its stake in the US unit has now increased to 74.6% from 69.9%.

Mastek, an enterprise digital transformation specialist with presence in the UK, the US and India, said it will invest the net proceeds from the partial stake sale to grow its business.

Mastek group CEO John Owen said the decision to sell this stake in Majesco and reinvest the proceeds back into its core business shows its commitment to deliver a better return to its shareholders.

“As part of our Vision 2020 strategy, we have consistently stated that Mastek will divest non-core assets and use the proceeds to accelerate our core business plan to be a recognised leader in enterprise digital transformation,” he said.

Majesco’s US unit provides software, consulting and information technology services to insurance companies. The unit reported a consolidated net profit of $6.9 million on revenue of $139.9 million for 2018-19.

Mastek had, in 2014, demerged its insurance products and services business into Minefields Computers Pvt. Ltd. This was renamed as Majesco Ltd.

Shares of Mastek jumped 5.5% on the BSE to close at Rs 378.05 apiece in a strong Mumbai market on Friday. Shares of Majesco inched up 0.6% to end at Rs 399.55 apiece.