Amazon to acquire Westland

Online marketplace Amazon has agreed to acquire the remaining 74% stake in Westland, the publishing unit of the Tata Group retail company Trent Ltd, indicating its interest in expanding its presence in India Books Market.

The acquisition would help Westland’s authors to grow their physical and digital book businesses in India as well as expand their reach to customers globally. In just three years Amazon have built India’s largest online store that customers can trust to find, discover and buy anything online. The acquisition of Westland continues our commitment to India—enabling Amazon to bring Westland’s highly talented authors and their books to even more customers in India and around the world.

Amazon, which is the world’s largest Internet-based retailer, started out as an online bookstore in 1994. From selling books by third-party publishers on its platform, Amazon has since started its own publishing unit, Amazon Publishing. Since its founding in 2009, Amazon Publishing has published in different genres from romance and thrillers to spirituality, comics, and science fiction.

Chennai-based Westland began as a book distributor but ventured into publishing in 2007. Today, it is one of the top five English language trade publishers in the country and its imprints include Tranquebar Press (for literary fiction and non-fiction), EastWest (focusing on South Indian heritage) and Westland (for trade books, both fiction and non-fiction). The present company was formed from the merger of two companies, Westland Books Pvt. Ltd and EastWest Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd in April 2008.

IBM acquires Sanovi

Global computer services major IBM has signed a deal to acquire Bengaluru based cloud recovery and migration software Sanovi for an undisclosed sum. IBM said that the acquisition will help to assure its clients of business continuity and disaster recovery, when they shift their applications to cloud.

As a cloud-native company, Sanovi will strengthen IBM resiliency portfolio to manage the broad range of applications, data, and IT systems of our clients balancing digital and hybrid cloud transformation with increased regulatory compliance.  IBM plans to also license the Sanovi disaster recovery management software as a stand-alone platform to customers.

Adding these capabilities along with advanced analytics will better enable IBM to bolster its Software Defined Resiliency strategy and delivery of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery services for clients undergoing digital and hybrid Cloud transformation, the company said in a statement. IBM plans to integrate the Sanovi capabilities into the IBM Global Technology Services unit by the end of 2016.

Hybrid Cloud solutions are turning out to be the preferred choice for enterprises in India for an enhanced efficiency, productivity and cyber security. A Hybrid Cloud is an integrated Cloud service utilizing both private and public Clouds to perform distinct functions within the same organization. With Sanovi's software, IBM will further empower clients to redefine their disaster recovery strategy in the face of unprecedented industry change.

L&T Infotech to buy AugmentIQ

IT Services and solutions provider L&T Infotech announced that it will acquire Pune based AugmentIQ Data sciences, a start-up offering IP based, big data and analytics solution that allows enterprises derive business benefits from big data.

As a result of this acquisition, L&T Infotech will gain access to MAXIQ, the big data platform developed by AugmentIQ, which is currently servicing one of the world's largest credit bureaus, large banks as well as regulatory agencies. Also, the proprietary identity resolution technology from AugmentIQ is among the best in its class and can be adopted to solve the emerging needs of regulatory authorities across all markets.

MAXIQ from AugmentIQ brings the power of automation and Do-it-Yourself (DIY) to big data. Its end-to-end, self-service approach enables business users to leverage big data technologies such as Hadoop & Spark. The proposed acquisition will enable L&T Infotech to build upon MAXIQ by integrating it within LTI's MOSAIC Decision Science platform. 

L&T Infotech clients are seeking big data solutions that can be implemented quickly and scale as per their requirements. AugmentIQ offers a very versatile platform that can expand instantly and enable accelerated data monetization. During last four years, AugmentIQ have grown rapidly and are working with some major clients in India and globally. 

Google buys Eyefluence

Google has acquired a 3-year-old-eye-tracking company for virtual and augmented reality headsets, signaling the tech giant’s interest in the immersive technologies. Eyefluence develops eye-interaction technologies to control VR and AR headsets. Eyes can instantaneously transform intent into action, enabling communication as fast as you can see.

Google released its Cardboard smartphone VR visor in mid-2014 and its Daydream View VR headset in early October. The company is also reportedly working on a high-end VR headset. The deal allows Google to put Eyefluence's technology into VR and AR products like Daydream, allowing third-party developers and publishers to use it as part of the Google's UI toolkit, said Lewis Ward, research director for gaming and VR/AR at IDC.

Functional eye-tracking is a widely desired feature in virtual reality and augmented reality, which lets digital images interact with the physical world. Eye-tracking tech would curb some of the latency and accessibility issues that keep the nascent media to a niche fan base. Google has invested heavily in VR, launching tailored software and introducing its own mobile headset earlier this month. Google has also invested directly in Magic Leap, a start-up that is also purportedly working on eye interaction technology.

Eye-tracking is a very important technology to future virtual reality headsets. Other companies in the space like SMI and Tobii have devoted efforts to using the eye as a method of signaling attention in interfaces but Eyefluence has devoted itself fully to using eye gesture cues for navigating menus and making selections.

AT&T to buy Time Warner

AT&T Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Time Warner Inc. for about $85 Million, paving the way for what would be the biggest deal in the world this year, giving the telecom company control of cable TV channels HBO and CNN, film studio Warner Bros and other coveted media assets.

The deal, which has been agreed on most terms, would be one of the largest in recent years in the sector as telecommunications companies look to combine content and distribution to capture customers replacing traditional pay-tv packages with more streamlined offerings and online delivery.

AT&T, which sells wireless phone and broadband services, has already made moves to turn itself into a media powerhouse, buying satellite TV provider DirecTV last year for $48.5 billion. It also in 2014 entered a joint venture, Otter Media, with the Chernin Group to invest in media businesses, and has rolled out video streaming services.

Time Warner is a major force in movies, TV and video games. Its assets include the HBO, CNN, TBS and TNT networks as well as the Warner Bros film studio, producer of the “Batman” and “Harry Potter” film franchises. The company also owns a 10% stake in video streaming site Hulu. The media industry has been seen as ripe for consolidation, and several stocks rose on the news, including Netflix Inc. which closed up about 3.4%, and Discovery Communications Inc, which ended up 3.6%

Wipro to acquire Appirio

Country’s third largest IT firm Wipro has acquired cloud services company Appirio for $500 Million (around Rs 3,340 crore) in a cash transaction. Once completed, Wipro acquisition of Appirio will create one of the world’s largest cloud transformation practices, a game changer in todays as a service and digital economy.

Post-acquisition, Wipro will also have access to Topcoder, a crowd sourcing marketplace connecting over a million designers, developers and data scientists around the world with customers. Wipro will consolidate its existing cloud applications practices of Salesforce and Workday under the Appirio brand and structure.

Established in 2006, the US based Appirio has offices in Jaipur, San-Francisco, Dublin, London and Tokyo and has 1,250 employees worldwide. It had revenues of $196 Million in 2015 and its clients include brands like Stryker, Robert Half, Johnson Controls, Cardinal Health, Coco-cola, eBay, Facebook, Home Depot, and Sony PlayStation.

In an increasingly digital world, as consumer behaviors and expectations continue to be reshaped by experiences, companies are recognizing that they need to transform how they engage with customers and employees by leveraging the power of Cloud. The acquisition is expected to be closed in the quarter ending 31 December 2016. William Blair & Company acted as financial advisor to Appirio during the transaction.

Freshdesk buys Chatimity

Customer support software maker Freshdesk Inc. one of India’s most well-funded product start-ups had acquired Bengaluru based chat-bot firm Chatimity to augment its product offerings. Chatimity is the sixth in a series of small companies Freshdesk has acquired and the second in the chat space. In December last year, Freshdesk acquired Konotor, which helped businesses chat with their customers within apps.

Freshdesk acquired Airwoot, a social customer support platform in April, Framebench, a file collaboration platform in February, Frilp, a social recommendation app in October, and 1Click, a video chat platform in August. Chat will play an important role in the future of communication for customer service but scaling that infrastructure continues to be a challenge.

Scaling quality customer support along with a rapidly expanding user base is a challenge that most internet-based firms face. With Chatimity’s bot, MITI, this can be used to converse with thousands of users in real time, Freshdesk hopes to help companies solve this problem. Although bots have been around for a while in one form or the other, advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing have made chat-bots - bots that can emulate human conversations more accessible and popular than ever, with several companies such as Facebook and Slack opening up their platforms for chat-bots builders.

Freshdesk, which has so far raised $95 million from venture capital firms Accel Partners, Google Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC, has 50,000 customers globally, and competes with Helpshift, and global heavyweights ZenDesk and Salesforce.com. The company is based in San Bruno, California, with offices in London, Sydney and Chennai.

MakeMyTrip to buy Ibibo Travel Business

Online Travel firm MakeMyTrip Ltd has agreed to buy Ibibo Group’s Travel Business in India for $720 Million in stock, creating one of the largest travel companies in the country. The deal will bring all brands of the Nasper and Tencent backed Ibibo Group such as Goibibo, redBus, Ryde and Rightstay under MakeMyTrip. Together, MakeMyTrip and Ibibo processed 34.1 Million transactions in 2015-16.

The transaction is expected to unlock value for customers, supply partners and shareholders, by combining the complementary strengths of each business. MakeMyTrip brings its strong brand, robust mix of domestic and outbound hotels and packages business and strong position in the air ticketing business. Ibibo Group, via its brand Goibibo and redBus, comes with a strong presence in various fast growing travel segments including hotels, bus bookings and air ticketing. 

The combined entity is valued at $1.8 Billion. Naspers and Tencent jointly held 91% and 9% stake in Ibibo respectively. They will be issued new shares in MakeMyTrip and will become the single largest shareholder in MakeMyTrip, owning a 40% stake and will continue proportionate working capital once the deal is closed.

India is a key market for Naspers. Ibibo and MakeMyTrip have built leading companies through their innovative use of technology to create exceptional experiences for people traveling throughout India and increasingly beyond. Morgan Stanley acted as the financial advisor to MakeMyTrip. Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisor to Ibibo and Naspers while Cravath, Swaine and Moore, Trilegal and BLC Roberts served as legal advisors.

FirstCry to acquire BabyOye

Online Baby products seller FirstCry is acquiring Mahindra Retail, which runs offline stores under BabyOye brand, for about Rs 362 crore in a landmark deal in the Indian Retail Market. The Pune based startup will acquire the franchisee division of Mahindra Retail, part of the $18 Billion software to automobiles conglomerates Mahindra and Mahindra.

The deal is a stock transaction, under which FirstCry owner Brainbees Solutions will issue shares worth Rs 355 crore to Mahindra Group and pay Rs 7.5 crore in cash. The deal will help FirstCry, which already has 180 franchised stores; create one of the largest Omni-channel retail plays in the country, with a strong presence both online and offline. As a part of transaction, FirstCry has also raised Rs 226 crore in fresh funding form Mahindra Group and Switzerland Adveq, besides existing backers like IDG Ventures India, SAIF Partners, NEA and Vertex.

Mahindra Retail had expanded into the online baby care market last year with acquisition of BabyOye and also rebranded its offline stores from Mom & Me to the online brand. It has over 120 stores that are a combination of large format, high street and mall locations and hospital stores. Mahindra Retail acquired BabyOye.com in February 2015. FirstCry.com will have a parent base of over 4 Million, a footprint of over 300 stores spread across 125 cities.

Gozoop to acquire 56 Blue Lights

Mumbai based digital media agency Gozoop is in talks to acquire offline activation agency and syndicated content provider 56 Blue Lights in an all cash deal. Through this acquisition, Gozoop aim to carry out all their offline work. Gozoop is building the offline part by making hires from traditional agencies such as JWT and others.

Acquisition of UAE based 56 Blue Lights will enable Gozoop to offer a wider product portfolio including events, radio, television programming and outdoor advertising. Gozoop, which has about 140 clients including about 80 on a retainer basis, will get access to 56 Blue Lights clientele. Through the acquisition the company expects to grow its topline by over 50% in the coming fiscal.

In the last five years, the company has expanded its services to the US, the UAE and Singapore. However, about two thirds of the company’s revenue comes from the Indian market. With complementing domains of expertise, 56 Blue Lights and Gozoop will together be able to leverage the potential of 360 degree marketing by coalescing online and offline marketing strategies. The company counts Holiday Inn, Regal Group, Bank of Baroda, Noor Oil, Khaleej Times, and the Landmark Group among clients.

56 Blue Lights was founded in 2013 and has been the name behind memorable content in the UAE such as the Cricket and Carrom Premier League, Nityodita Festival of Fine Arts and Musicians United. Earlier this year in April, Indus Net Technologies, a Kolkata based internet consulting company, made a strategic investment to acquire a majority stake in TechShu after buying out the existing investors. 

Dentsu Aegis acquires Happy Creative Services

Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the acquisition of creative marketing agency Happy Creative Services (also known as Happy) which will join the Global McGarryBowen network of agencies and be rebranded as Happy mcgarrybowen. The deal size is estimated to be up to Rs. 300 Crore.

The acquisition marks the first McGarryBowen agency in India as it expands its footprint in Asia with other offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Happy will continue to be headquartered in Bengaluru. The agency is known for servicing new age businesses and existing clients will get the benefits of the tools and learning’s that a global agency network will bring.

Established in 2007, Happy Creative Services is an independent creative outfit with a staff of 100 across three disciplines – brand design, integrated brand Communication and Digital. Recently, Happy bagged the “Agency of the Year” title at the 2016 edition of Maddys organized by the Advertising Club Madras.

Happy work on the “Ola Boat” which was an emergency boat service set up by Ola Cabs to help stranded people in the city of Chennai during the November 2015 Floods, also won numerous national and international awards.

Everstone to buy CRM Solutions

India focused private equity firm Everstone Group has agreed to acquire US based global CRM solutions provider C3 (CustomerContactChannels) through its Singapore based arm Everise Services, along with Sunrise BPO Pte Ltd as co-investor. The business has been bought from Stone Point Capital and senior Leadership of C3.

Stone Point Capital is a private equity firm that makes investments in businesses within the global financial services industry. Stone Point has raised and managed six private equity funds – the Trident Funds – with aggregate committed capital of approximately $13 Billion. As part of this strategy, Sunrise BPO will take the leading role in operating the business, in addition to bringing Capital. Everstone will be the largest financial investor and it will take the lead in C3 India operational built out to grow the company.

Everise is targeting to make C3 into a $500 plus Million revenue company over the next five years, from current $200 Million. Over the past six years, C3 has clocked revenue CAGR of more than 60%. This marks Everstone third investment through its latest private equity fund, ECP III, which raised $730 Million last year and the second investment into the ITes enabled space after it acquired a controlling stake Servion Global Solutions.

Founded in 2010, C3 expanded operations in the Philippines and Guatemala and has a marquee list of over 20 clients in healthcare, telecommunications & media, consumer internet, Logistics, retail, travel and hospitality and financial services. C3 also provides training and consulting in the customer management solutions space, as well as sales, performance optimization, reputation management and complete customer lifecycle management via traditional, web, and emerging communication channels.

Intas Pharmaceuticals to buy Actavis

Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd agreed to buy Actavis UK Ltd and Actavis Ireland Ltd from Israeli generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd for an enterprise value of approximately Rs 5,083 crore in an all cash transaction.

The acquisition will expand Intas UK manufacturing presence with the addition of the Barnstaple site in North Devon and more than doubles Intas pan-European operations, with revenues exceeding $500 Million. The Barnstaple plant will become the company’s fourth UK site. The deal will also increase Intas access to UK and Irish retail and hospital markets.

The transaction is part of the European Commission’s anti-trust divestiture requirements arising from Teva acquisition of Actavis Generics. Teva agreed in July 2015 to purchase Allergan generics unit for $40.5 Billion in cash and stock a deal that made Teva the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world. Since then Teva has been on a divestment spree to address antitrust concerns.

In July, Cipla Ltd, India’s fifth largest drug maker, had acquired a portfolio of three products from Teva in the US. Aurobindo Pharma Ltd was also part of the 11 firms that agreed to acquire 79 existing and future drugs from Teva. Intas acquisition of Teva UK assets puts it in the big league of large overseas acquisitions by Indian Pharma firms. It is also the biggest outbound M&A transaction in the Pharma space so far in 2016.

Capillary Technologies buys Sellerworx

Capillary Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which offers customer relationship management, software and marketing analytics for retailers, has acquired Sellerworx Online Service Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount in a stock and cash deal to strengthen its product portfolio.

Apart from offline retailers, Capillary now offers products to online sellers and marketplaces through one technology platform instead of sellers using multiple channels. Founded in 2008, Capillary raised an undisclosed amount as a loan from InnoVen Capital in August. Sellerworx provides products and services for retailers and merchants to manage the inventory, pricing, returns across different marketplaces and a dynamic price management tool for marketplace sellers.

It was funded in 2015 by Axilor Ventures. With a clientele across 30 countries, Capillary claims its products are being used in over 20,000 stores by more than 200 large enterprise retailers including Unilever, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and the Landmark Group, Calvin Klein, Gap, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and Puma.