Quess Corp, the ‘business services’ subsidiary of Thomas Cook India, announced two major acquisitions, purchasing the Asia business of Monster.com and the Indian service center business of HCL Infosystems.
Quess Corp will pay up to Rs 30 cr for the service center business of HCL Infosystems.
It did not disclose the consideration for the monster.com business, but said the ‘enterprise value’ of the purchased business has been taken to be up to $14 mln (Rs 90 cr).
Enterprise value is an estimate of the value of the company for all stakeholders including its creditors and its shareholders.
“The acquisition of Monster is aligned with our ‘Digital First strategy for Business’ and is a strategic investment in that direction whereas the acquisition of Care Business marks our entry into the high growth break-fix market for smart phones, consumer electronics and consumer durables with Pan India presence,” said Ajit Isaac, Chairman and Managing Director of Quess Corp.
“Both the investments are typical of our philosophy of backing strong management teams and finding them a permanent home in Quess while creating long term value for our shareholders and clients.”
The monster deal was announced overnight in the US market by monster.com. The US company said Quess Corp will license the brand name from it.
“The APAC and Gulf business of Monster will continue to operate as a separate and independent entity under the Monster name within Quess, subject to a licensing agreement from Monster Worldwide,” it said.
“We are pleased we found a partner in Quess that will continue to nourish the brand and grow this business while allowing us to put a dedicated focus on growing our businesses in North America and Europe.”
The deal involves purchasing 100% of the monster business in India, Singapore and Hong Kong, and 49% of the Malaysia unit.
The move could increase competition for Info Edge India Ltd, which operates India’s largest job portal naukri.com.
Monster.com entered India around a decade ago, but failed to topple naukri.com from its perch despite aggressive marketing. The success of naukri.com is attributed to its relationship with employers and companies.
Quess Corp said the acquired businesses of monster.com had a turn over of around $27 mln per year, stagnant through 2014-2016.
It said the purchase would complement its existing business of providing workers and services to corporations in cities like Bangalore.
“This acquisition complements our market leading presence in the HR services space with end-to-end offerings across Employee Lifecycle Managment,” the Indian company said.
Quess has 65 offices in 34 cities. It serves over 1700 corporate clients, providing them people, facility management services, technology and industrial solutions and services.
HCL ACQUISITION
Quess Corp also said it would take over the service center business of HCL Infosystems, which, at one time, used to have the monopoly for running Nokia service centers in India.
The business, being purchased for Rs 30 cr, involves 80 walk-in centers and over 200 authorized service providers. It has a total employee strength of 1,400 and had revenue of Rs 191 cr in the year ended March 2017.
In the previous year, the revenue was Rs 171 cr and in the year before, Rs 132 cr.
HCL Infosystems has not been able to rescue itself from the downward spiral the company has found itself in since the eclipse of the Nokia brand from the country.
Quess said it was keen on entering the “high growth”, but fragmented repair business.
The acquisition would give it “a good head start”. It will also be able to leverage its existing relationships with many big companies to secure servicing partnerships, it added.