U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co. said on Thursday it signed a definitive agreement to buy 100 percent stake in Ness Digital Engineering, a digital services transformation company, from The Rohatyn Group.
Although both companies did not reveal the value terms of the transaction, KKR has agreed to pay over $500 million to buyout Ness, according to people familiar with the matter.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ness is a leading provider of end-to-end digital transformation services that specializes in building digital software products and platforms.
The Company offers a wide range of digital practices that include cloud engineering, data and analytics, experience design, intelligence engineering, and salesforce for businesses across sectors. Its clientele includes S&P Global, JP Morgan, Michelin and Veritas group among others.
“Digital transformation and adoption is a critical strategy for businesses of all sizes worldwide. Against this backdrop, KKR believes that Ness is well-positioned for growth, supported by its exceptional, experience-led product engineering heritage. KKR is pleased to invest in Ness’ capabilities and looks forward to working alongside its talented team to further scale Ness’ digital-first platform, achieve its global ambitions, and better enable its customers to compete in the digital economy,” said Gaurav Trehan, Partner and CEO of KKR India.
KKR has made this investment from its Asia Fund IV. Ness adds to KKR’s portfolio of technology investments, which includes, Cloudera, a provider of enterprise-grade, Yayoi, a software developer, distributor, and support service provider for small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan, Probe CX, a provider of outsourced customer experience and business process outsourcing solutions in Australia, MYOB, an Australian online business management company and Jio in India, the statement said.
“We believe this transaction will help us turbocharge our growth plans and further strengthen our competitive market position. We look forward to leveraging KKR’s global platform and strong investment and operational expertise to deliver more innovative solutions to help our customers keep up with the pace of digitalization required by the accelerated online economy,” said Ranjit Tinaikar, CEO of Ness.
Founded by partners including former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Nicolas Rohatyn in 2002, Rohatyn Group focuses on investments in emerging markets and real assets, its website shows.
“We are proud to have tapped into TRG’s technology services expertise and extensive global experience to help Ness become a unique, global leader in the digital space. We wish the Company the best in its next chapter,” said Nicolas Rohatyn, chief executive officer and founder of The Rohatyn Group.
Ness employees over 4000 people spread across India, eastern Europe, and the US, with around 45 percent of the talent pool is from India. It engages with chief digital officers and business heads of client organizations looking to build consumer-facing or revenue-generating applications with domain expertise in Financial Services, Media, Entertainment & Education, High-Tech ISVs, and Manufacturing & Transportation.
