Genpact To Acquire US-Based EmPower Research

India's largest business process and technology management company Genpact has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based media and business research EmPower Research for an undisclosed sum, the company has said in a statement.

The deal is likely to be closed by the end of September, subject to satisfaction of certain customary conditions. Genpact, which went public in the USA in 2007, is backed by private equity firms Oak Hill Capital Management and General Atlantic.
EmPower Research provides a comprehensive range of services including social and traditional media monitoring and measurement, event impact research, brand tracking and data management. Its clients include some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, PR agencies, technology firms and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in the world. EmPower Research has approximately 360 employees based in Bangalore, New York, Cincinnati, New Jersey, San Francisco and London.

"EmPower Research, a front-runner in social media with a uniquely process-driven culture, strong domain expertise and high-calibre senior management team, is a fantastic fit for our business with numerous cross-sell opportunities, particularly in the pharmaceutical and CPG industries," said Genpact's president and CEO NV 'Tiger' Tyagarajan. The acquisition is expected to add significant expertise and intellectual property to Gurgaon-based Genpact's Smart Decision Services business, which includes analytics, research, re-engineering and risk management.

Genpact is seeing increase in demand for Smart Decision Services and EmPower Research adds tremendous capabilities in extracting insights from social media, a fast-emerging source of data about consumer behaviour. This association will help in supporting our clients in smarter decision-making and in delivering improved business outcomes, the company has stated.
"We are incredibly excited to become a part of the Genpact team," said Debjani Deb, co-founder and managing partner of EmPower Research.

EmPower Research was jointly represented by New York-based media investment bank The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. and Indian mid-market investment bank Veda Corporate Advisors in this transaction.

NYSE-listed outsourcing firm Genpact Ltd, which saw a change of guards earlier this year with Pramod Bhasin stepping down as CEO and giving the reins to NV 'Tiger' Tyagarajan, had acquired Headstrong Corporation, an IT consulting and services company, for a cash consideration of $550 million. The company had also taken over California-based Cloud company Akritiv Technologies for an undisclosed amount.