IT Infrastructure Specialist Locuz and IT Solutions and Services Provider Choice Solutions to Merge
Combination will synergize to provide end-to-end IT infrastructure solutions and services globally
Tweet-- Privately held Locuz Enterprise Solutions Ltd and Choice Solutions Ltd announced today that the companies will be entering into a definitive agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction. Under the agreement, which is yet to secure the approval of Indian regulatory authorities, Locuz stock will be converted into Choice stock at a fixed exchange ratio of 2 shares of Choice common stock for each outstanding share of Locuz common stock.
The combined company will operate under the name of Locuz-Choice Solutions Ltd. Mr. K V Jagannath, present Managing Director and CEO of Choice Solutions will continue as Managing Director and CEO of the combined entity. Mr. Vijay K Wadhi, President of Locuz Enterprise Solutions, will be the Joint Managing Director. The board of directors of the combined company will be reconstituted to include equal number of members from the current boards of Locuz and Choice.
Locuz Enterprise Solutions since its inception in 2000 has been a specialist in IT Infrastructure solutions with acknowledged expertise in High Performance Computing, IT Security and IP Convergence solutions. Over the last 2 years, Locuz has also forayed into the Enterprise IT Management space by establishing a NOC/SOC in Hyderabad and has been providing SLA-driven On-site/Off-site services to clients in India and abroad in the area of Network and Systems Management, Managed Security and IT Governance.
Choice Solutions is an end-to-end IT solutions provider enabling the holistic IT environment for customers and is rated among the top IT companies in India. Since inception in 1991, Choice has established a pan-India and U.S. presence, a stellar customer base, partnerships with technology leaders and a niche for itself in providing complete data center lifecycle solutions and services. In the past few years, Choice also developed strong practices in the areas of Enterprise Software Licensing, Offshore Software Development, Enterprise Storage, DR/BCP, Managed Services and Audits.
With the confluence of complementary offerings, the combined entity is well positioned to serve customers both in India and overseas markets.
"Both Choice and Locuz are on course to become leading technology companies in the country by 2010. With growing complexity in IT environments, our customers are seeking a strategic partner that will fulfill their ongoing IT needs in the long run. This merger is a natural, accelerated progression towards our mutual goals and total customer satisfaction,“ said K V Jagannath, Managing Director, Choice Solutions.
“Our customers wanted us to go beyond Availability, Security and Performance and help them maximize returns on their IT investments by making their IT Business centric. Locuz has developed unique industry specific methodologies to address these concerns. We firmly believe that Services Oriented Infrastructure (SOI) and methodologies for Infrastructure orchestration is the future” said Vijay K Wadhi, President, Locuz Enterprise Solutions. "The merger accelerates our ability to reach out to many more customers with increased resources, both financial and intellectual, to strengthen our service delivery capability."
The merger will expand the combined market reach and revenue base and is expected to create an entity with significantly greater financial strength and human resources. The aggregate revenue of the combined company is expected to be approximately Rs 150-170 Cr for FY08, which begins in April 2007 and ends in March 2008. It is expected that 75 percent revenue of the combined company will come from the Enterprise Solutions business and the remaining from IT Services. The employee strength will exceed 550.
The combination will create significant benefits for the customers and partners of both companies, including:
- Breadth – With a wider array of offerings encompassing the holistic IT environment
- Resources – With a combined workforce of over 550 people and financial leverage to execute larger projects
- Reach – Offices and resources across all major cities of India and an office in the US to assist our global foray
The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of both companies and regulatory approvals.
Notes to Editor
About Locuz
A deep-rooted philosophy – ‘creating business value with IT Infrastructure’ – drives Locuz in its mission of helping solve the challenge of deploying and managing complex IT Infrastructure in the face of rapid technological change. Since 2000, Locuz has executed IT Infrastructure projects for many large enterprises in the country and continues to provide Consulting, Solutions and Services in areas like Education, Research, IT/ITES, Manufacturing, BFSI and Telecom. Locuz has offices across the South and West India with headquarters in Hyderabad. More details are available at www.locuz.com
About Choice Solutions
Founded in 1991, Choice Solutions enables the holistic IT environment for customers. The core business areas are Data Center Lifecycle, Enterprise IT Applications, Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and IT Services. Choice Solutions also partners with selected technology leaders in bringing the best-of-breed technologies and superior support model to customers. With a large customer base, which includes an illustrious list of fortune 500 companies, spanning all verticals, Choice Solutions has firmly established its leadership in the IT Solutions space. More information can be found at www.choice-solutions.com.