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Citi Venture Capital bought Ness Technologies for $307 Million
By siliconindia
Bangalore: Israel-based Ness technologies, an IT services and solutions company, is acquired by Citigroup's venture capital arm, Citi Venture Capital International (CVCI) for $307 million in cash.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ness stockholders will receive $7.75 per share in cash for each share of common stock they hold, representing a premium of 17.6 percent over the closing price of the company's shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 9, 2011, or 22.2 percent over the average closing price of the company's shares over the 30 trading days prior to June 10, 2011. The company's Board of Directors voted on the sale unanimously, saying that approving the transaction was in the best interest of Ness technologies and its shareholders.
Jefferies and Company acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee and managed the process for them soliciting bids from both strategic and financial sponsors in response to an unsolicited indication of interest.
Ness Technologies is a global provider of IT and business services and solutions with specialized expertise in software product engineering and system integration, application development, consulting and software distribution. It has operations in North America, Europe, Israel and India and has customers in over 20 countries and partners with numerous software and hardware vendors worldwide.
Sachi Gerlitz, President and CEO, Ness Technologies, said that they believe this transaction will provide attractive value for their stockholders and represent an exciting opportunity for Ness with over 500 customers and 6,900 employees to continue the growth and development in partnership with CVCI. He said that the company looks forward to complete the transaction and continue to provide superior solutions and services to their strong customer base as they build upon their leadership position in the markets and continue to implement their strategic plan.
CVCI is a leader in global emerging markets private equity investing and currently manages over $7 billion in equity investments and committed capital. It has an internationally integrated investment team with over 45 professionals worldwide with a local presence in Singapore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, London, New York and Santiago. Over the last decade, funds and entities advised by CVCI have invested in business services and IT Services companies in China, U.S.A, India, Mexico and Korea. Bob Khanna, Managing Director, CVCI, said that they are excited about the prospect of increasing their investment in Ness. They look forward to working with management, employees and partners of all business units to ensure that Ness becomes even more valuable to its clients and fully leverages the strengths of its global network.
The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including approval of the company's stockholders, antitrust regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Ness expects the transaction to be completed in the next three to six months.
