Tech Mahindra buys 51% of Bharti Group's mobile VAS firm Comviva for $48M

Tech Mahindra Limited, India's sixth largest software exporter, has struck a deal to acquire 51 per cent of Comviva Technologies Limited, a Bharti Group company engaged in providing mobile Value Added Services (VAS), mobile money and mobile payment solutions, for Rs 260 crore ($48 million). The firm will be rechristened Mahindra Comviva.

As part of this arrangement, Tech Mahindra will make an upfront payment of Rs 125 crore towards the stake acquired and the balance amount of Rs 135 crore will be paid out over a period of five years based on Comviva achieving mutually agreed performance targets.

The current promoters will continue to hold 20 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis in Comviva, post the deal closure.

WestBridge Capital, Sequoia Capital and Cisco Systems are the three non promoter shareholders of Comviva.

Commenting on this move, Vineet Nayyar, executive vice chairman, Tech Mahindra said: "In addition to the market leading capabilities, this will also add to our relationship with large operator groups across the world."

"The world of mobility today encompasses wide range of solutions, where customers be it enterprise or consumers are driving their business and entertainment needs through mobility. This acquisition marks our strong intent and entry into the world of mobility products. We are adding significant capability in areas such as payments and VAS," added CP Gurnani, managing director, Tech Mahindra.

"The combined entity will bring end-to-end capabilities of products, system integration and services in the mobile VAS, money & payments space. Our enhanced customer experience management offerings will deliver greater value to all our existing customers globally, and provide opportunities for accelerated growth," added Manoranjan (Mao) Mohapatra, CEO, Comviva.

This acquisition will significantly enhance Tech Mahindra's capabilities in the mobile VAS domain and will provide access to a marquee client base, enabling significant cross-selling opportunities. It dovetails into two of Tech Mahindra's stated strategies, namely investing in emerging areas such as Network, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud and Security and further focus on non-linear growth. Comviva's primary focus and business model is expected to strengthen this aspiration.

Comviva has an extensive portfolio of solutions spanning mobile money and payments, mobile data, integrated messaging, mobile lifestyle and customer life cycle management solutions, which enable mobile service providers to enrich mobile users' lives, whilst rationalising costs, accelerating revenue growth and enhancing customer lifetime value.

Comviva's solutions are deployed with over 130 service providers and banks in over 90 countries across Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Europe, and powers services to more than a billion mobile subscribers.

Tech Mahindra's vast geographic reach and access to global telecom players will enable Comviva to take integrated solutions and products to a larger base. Comviva will further bring its managed VAS capabilities to the table.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)