BackThomas Cook-owned IKYA Group buys Canadian firm Brainhunter
The acquisition will allow IKYA access to the IT staffing business in North America
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Mumbai: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd-owned staffing company IKYA Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Canadian company Brainhunter Companies Llc, currently owned by Zylog Systems (Canada) Ltd. The acquisition will allow IKYA access to the information technology (IT) staffing business in North America, the company said in a filing to BSE on Thursday.
Brainhunter, an IT and engineering professional firm, employs around 700 professionals and has revenues of about $80 million, IKYA said in the filing.
IKYA did not disclose the value of the deal.
The Bangalore-based IKYA Group has interests in HR services, IT services, engineering services and facility management services.
The acquisition will help IKYA gain access to a large IT staffing business services market in North America, as Brainhunter’s clients include several Fortune 500 companies as well as Canadian government institutions.
“The combination of Brainhunter’s knowledge and depth in American markets along with IKYA’s financial strength and execution capability will enable the creation of a market leading global IT staffing company," said Ajit Isaac, chairman and managing director, IKYA Group.
The combination of the two companies will create an IT staffing entity with global presence across North America, the Middle East, India and South East Asia, the firm said in the filing.
This is IKYA’s second acquisition this year. In June, it acquired Chennai-based industrial asset management firm Hofincons Infotech and Industrial Services Pvt. Ltd. Hofincons Infotech has interests in electrical, mechanical and instrumentation services as well as facilities management.
In February 2013, travel company Thomas Cook had bought a 74% stake in the unlisted IKYA Human Capital Solutions Ltd for ₹ 256 crore. The acquisition was funded through internal accruals and IKYA was kept as a separate entity. Thomas Cook India is a subsidiary of the multinational Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Thomas Cook is one of the largest travel and travel-related financial services companies in the country, offering services that include foreign exchange, corporate travel, leisure travel, insurance, visa and passport services.
At 12.57pm, Thomas Cook was trading at ₹ 149.45 on BSE, up 2.6% from its previous close, while the exchange’s benchmark Sensex rose 1.4% to 27,003.04 points.
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