Apax Partners strikes another IT services buy with Infogain

Private equity firm Apax Partners has acquired Silicon Valley-based digital and software services provider Infogain Co in a transaction that is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, the firm said on Friday.  

The deal marks an exit for ChrysCapital which acquired a controlling stake in the business in 2015 for $63 million.  

Soon after ChrysCapital’s investment, Infogain also acquired BlueStar Infotech’s IT services business. It also bought Silicus Technologies and Revel Consulting and last year acquired Absolute Data and Analytics.   

The details for the latest transaction were not disclosed but The Economic Times said that the deal may be sized at around $500 to $600 million.

“Infogain was ChrysCapital’s pioneering initiative in the US that got bolstered with multiple strategic acquisitions,” Akshat Babbar, vice-president at ChrysCapital, said.  

This is Apax Partners’ second IT services deal in less than six months. The PE firm acquired 3i Infotech’s software products business in December 2020 for around $136 million.

“Apax’s experience, track record and deep knowledge of the industry will help supercharge our growth, organically and through new strategic acquisitions. We will leverage opportunities to deepen and diversify our service offerings to support our clients’ – and our own – transformation journeys,” Ayan Mukerji, incoming CEO of Infogain, said.  

Mukerji will take over from Sunil Bhatia as chief executive officer.  

“Digital engineering and technological excellence continue to be key competitive advantages across industries, and Infogain, with its platform strategy and highly talented team, is exceptionally well placed to help drive innovation and support its customers in developing differentiated human-centered solutions. Infogain has built an impressive platform with global delivery, strong product capabilities, and a loyal customer base,” Shashank Singh, partner at Apax, said.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Infogain provides human-centered digital platform engineering services to its customers. It has a team of 5,000 globally.  

Infogain serves companies, including Fortune 500 customers, in the travel, healthcare, retail/consumer packaged goods (CPG), insurance, telecom, and tech industries, supporting them in their artificial intelligence, experience design and cloud journey, using advanced software technologies, the company said.  

“Digital transformation and software engineering services have been key areas of focus for the Apax Funds over the last decade, underpinned by multiple successful investments,” Rohan Haldea, partner at Apax, said.  

Apax was advised by Kirkland & Ellis (legal advisor). Infogain was advised by Credit Suisse (financial advisor). ChrysCapital was advised by WSGR (legal advisor).