NTT Data acquires majority stake in payments firm Atom Technologies

Japanese IT services major NTT Data has picked up a majority stake in payment services company Atom Technologies, paving the way for the IT company's entry into the growing payments market in India, the companies said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

NTT Data bought a 55.35% stake for $9.24 million (Rs 65.6 crore) in Atom Technologies from its holding company 63 Moons Technologies Ltd, the statement said.

NTT Data added that the acquisition will help the Tokyo-based infotech company to strengthen its business presence in South Asia. Mumbai-based 63 Moons will continue to hold the rest of the stake in Atom, the statement added.

The BSE-listed 63 Moons had reported revenue of Rs 22.7 crore during the financial year ended March 2018. It had reported a net profit of Rs 1.6 crore during the same period. The acquisition did not affect 63 Moons’ share price, which was trading marginally lower Rs 106.95 on Tuesday afternoon.

NTT Data has revenue of over $19 billion and employs over 1.2 lakh people across the world and has a large presence in India. The company competes with TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and IBM. The IT firm said it was focussing on payments across Asian markets having acquired companies in Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Thailand.

“We are excited about this deal with Atom, which has a substantial presence in both brick-and-mortar and the online payments sector in India. We also appreciate 63 Moons, as it has been supporting Atom for building the business," said Isao Arima, senior vice president at NTT Data, in the statement.

NTT Data said that the Indian government's focus on digital payments and consistent economic growth would make the Indian payments market huge. "Our payments business in Japan and Southeast Asia will help Atom provide cross-border payment services to their merchants. Our customer base and development capability will allow Atom to grow further,” Arima added.

Atom Technologies was started by 63 Moons in 2005. It was one of the first companies to have created a multi-channel payments platform covering point of sale (POS), online, interactive voice response (IVR) as well as mobile platforms, the statement said.

Atom has 1,50,000 plus customers, merchant tie-ups, and has seen more than 150 million transactions processed through its payment platforms, which amounts to over $10 billion in volume every year. It has more than 250 people and operates from 25 locations across India. The company has customers from e-commerce, retail, government, utility, banking and finance, education, entertainment, travel and tourism, and telecom among others.