Malaysia’s De Raj Group AG, which develops power, infrastructure and energy projects in West Asia and Europe, has entered into a strategic alliance with Chennai-based recruitment and staffing firm O&G Skills India Pvt. Ltd, ahead of its complete acquisition.
The planned acquisition is part of De Raj Group’s aim of expanding further in Asia Pacific and West Asia, with a focus on critical manpower needs of the oil and gas industry, a top official of O&G Skills said in response to a query.
“O&G Skills India is all set to make a strategic merger with Frankfurt listed company De Raj Group AG,” said Vivek Dilip, co-founder and group director at O&G Skills India.
“The merger would enable the entities to work on global projects and take up complete end-to-end project execution by having a cost-efficient approach with skilled manpower and engineers,” he said.
O&G Skills India, which was founded in 2011 by Vivek Dilip and Sanjit Biswas, provides project-based hiring solutions to the energy industry and is now diversifying into other sectors such as e-commerce. It has more than 1,000 employees and has been working on upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.
The company has a database of professionals and filters its resources by using multiple factors such as project location and compensation packages based on client requirements, to offer the best fit for its customers.
O&G Skills also offers the option to hire candidates from multiple countries or from a particular country. The recruitment firm offers staffing solutions across design and engineering, fabrication and construction, installation and hook up, commissioning, operation & maintenance. De Raj Group AG, listed in Vienna and Frankfurt, owns and operates strategic equipment and facilities in both the oil and gas sector and the power generation sector. It provides its equipment and facilities on mid- to long-term lease to the market. The group also provides specialist services supported by intellectual property patents for the full spectrum of the upstream oil and gas supply chain, particularly in the South East Asian region.
As the Indian temporary staffing industry is highly unorganized, firms in the formal sector are expected to play a big role in causing the shift to the organised sector. Earlier other staffing firms in the country, which tapped primary markets to raise funds, made stellar debuts because of a strong response from investors.
In 2016, TeamLease Services Ltd, backed by private equity funds Gaja Capital and ICICI Venture’s India Advantage Fund (IAF), raised Rs420 crore via an initial public offering, which was subscribed a little more than 66 times, according to data available on stock exchanges. The company provides services covering the entire supply chain of human resources in India, including employment, employability and education.
Another company, Quess Corp, which offers end-to-end business functions such as recruitment, temporary staffing, technical staffing, IT products, and solutions to firms across sectors, also got listed in the same year and raised ₹400 crore. Its IPO was subscribed 144 times.
Source: Mint