Back with a bang: Phaneesh Murthy has become the CEO of iGate

Mumbai, July 30: iGate Global Solutions, a subsidiary of the US-based iGate Corporation, snapped up Quintant in an all-cash deal worth Rs 86.9 crore and announced it would be led by Phaneesh Murthy, the Infosys fat-cat who logged out of the bellwether under a cloud.

Murthy, until now the chief adviser of Quintant, indicated that his appointment as the CEO of iGate would end his role in Primentor, the IT advisory firm he co-founded last year along with his wife Jaya Murthy. He will, however, continue to be on the board of the Chennai-based Future Soft as a non-executive director.

“I look forward to building iGate into a gold standard organisation through operational excellence, customer service and corporate governance. We have the potential to emerge among the top five firms in the global services space in view of the synergy,” Murthy said.

The iGate share sizzled, shooting up by the maximum possible 20 per cent, to Rs 149.85 as investors relished reports of the buyout and the coronation.

Murthy’s leap to the top of iGate is the resurrection of a man known for his prowess in the software industry and, therefore, not a surprise. Before this, he was busy with the infotech advisory start-up he floated a year back.

iGate acquired the 51 per cent stake in Quintant form the Hyderabad’s GMR group, which pocketed $ 18.5 million after investing $ 16 million in the first round of funding. The sale came within six months of its cash infusion. iGate will buy the remaining 49 per cent in Quintant over the next few months from its promoters, mostly NRI angel investors in the US.

In rupee terms, the acquisition of Quintant will provide iGate Rs 68 crore in assets and a Rs 60-crore cash till. It will also gain Quintant’s 60-member management team, besides its expertise in banking, insurance, financial services and proprietary process tools.

GMR group director Kiran Kumar Gandhi said the transition of majority stake holding from the Rs 1400-crore (Rs 14-billion) infrastructure group to iGate will strategically position Quintant in a large well-established group in the IT and IT-enabled services industry.