BrazilTech Mahindra adds to Singapore footprint with Born purchase
Indian IT consulting and services firm Tech Mahindra has acquired US-based digital brand agency BORN Group, which has offices in Singapore and Tokyo among its nine worldwide.
A specialist in IT consulting services and business process outsourcing (BPO), Indian headquartered Tech Mahindra has furthered its foray into new territory with the purchase of US-based Born Group – which describes itself as a digital & content production agency. According to reports from earlier in the year, Tech Mahindra beat out interest from the likes of Accenture, Cognizant and IBM.
“Digital continues to be the central theme of our acquisition strategy at Tech Mahindra,” said the firm’s Head of Corporate Development, Vivek Agarwal, who has been with Tech Mahindra since 2004. “The acquisition of Born Group will assert our leadership in the rapidly growing electronic and mobile commerce segment globally, and equip us to deliver enhanced user experience to our customers globally.”
The deal – worth up to $95 million in an all-cash transaction – was announced in a second quarter report, which saw revenues up by 4.8 percent on the same period last year, with the firm altogether generating $4.9 billion in takings for 2018. According to reports, the acquisition of Born will add around $50 million in annual revenues on 2018 figures, with Born having grown from a $39 million take the year prior.
Established in 2011 following a merger (previously under the name FMG Group), Born today boasts over 1,100 employees spread across offices in New York, New Jersey and Toronto in North America, Indian outlets in Bangalore, Pune and Chennai, a base in London, and APAC branches in Tokyo and Singapore – the latter where current CEO Dilip Keshu took his first steps on the international business stage.
As stated by Tech Mahindra, Born serves its high-profile client roster – including the diverse likes of Google, Sotherby’s, Harley Davidson, TAG Heuer, Red Bull and Tetley Tea – with end-to-end digital engagement, in areas such as strategy consulting, content creation, digital production, eCommerce and Content Management System (CMS) implementations, and data-driven User Experience (UX).
“Dilip Keshu and his team have built a fabulous digital services company that uniquely combines creative and tech under one umbrella, something a lot of bigger players have tried to do and failed,” stated Neeraj Bhargava, the managing director of Zodius Capital (Born’s owner together with North Capital), during the earlier sale speculation. “At some point, we will exit and pass the baton to a new set of investors.”
The purchase of Born follows on from a number of other recent Tech Mahindra acquisitions, and suggests an ongoing spreading of wings. In July, Tech Mahindra picked up a majority $70 million stake in US strategic design consultancy Mad*Pow, while earlier this year it acquired Dutch telco services provider DynaCommerce, along with other investments in Italy, Canada and the US.
