HCL Tech, Reliance, Shiprocket, GlobalBees in M&A action this week
Indian IT services company HCL Technologies will acquire Budapest, Hungary-based data engineering services provider Starschema for $42.5 million (Rs 315.35 crore) in cash.
The acquisition, which is expected to conclude by March, will bolster HCL’s capability in digital engineering and increase its presence in Central and Eastern Europe.
Starschema provides consulting, technology and managed services in data engineering to Global 2000 companies in the US and Europe.
Shiprocket acquires Rocketbox
Zomato-backed BigFoot Retail Solutions, which owns and operates e-commerce shipping and enablement firm Shiprocket, has bought business-to-business (B2B) aggregator platform Rocketbox.
Neither party disclosed the deal value but said that Rocketbox’s founders will join the Shiprocket leadership team, and continue to build the cargo product as part of this deal.
Bizongo acquihires Hexa
Tiger Global-backed Bizongo acquihired Hexa, a Bengaluru-based ed-tech cloud platform for college placements, to ramp up new products in the made-to-order segment in coming months.
Neither company disclosed financial terms. Hexa’s co-founder and product head Shubham Goyal and head of business operations Sushmita Chavan will join Bizongo along with six other Hexa team members.
GlobalBees
E-commerce brand aggregator and investor GlobalBees Brands Pvt. Ltd acquired three more direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to expand its product portfolio.
Thrasio-style GlobalBees bought stakes in health snack food brand The Butternut Company, sustainable clothing brand Mush, and sports and fitness equipment brand Strauss. This takes its tally to 11 brands under its umbrella since its inception in May last year.
Reliance buys New York hotel
Refining-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd has acquired premium luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental New York for $98.15 million (about Rs 725 crore).
The deal adds to its portfolio of hospitality brands and businesses with investments in EIH Ltd, the operator of Oberoi Hotels, and Stoke Park in the UK.
House of Masaba
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has signed a deal to buy a majority stake in designer Masaba Gupta’s House of Masaba’s fashion and lifestyle label for Rs 90 crore in cash, valuing the firm at a tad below Rs 180 crore.
The label was born in 2009 but the firm was incorporated in 2014. Its apparel business clocked revenue of Rs 20 crore in FY20 and is expected to hit a top line of Rs 30 crore for the year ending March 2022. The firm did not disclose the revenue of the beauty business line.
