Arohi Asset Management, a Singapore based fund, is understood to have recently picked up 10 per cent stake in Mysore-based e-learning firm Excelsoft. Arohi is understood to have valued this Rs 60 crore firm at Rs 400 crore.
This move by Arohi comes close on the heels of D E Shaw, a global private equity player picking up 35 per cent from UTI Ventures for $31 million, valuing the firm at Rs 350 crore. The management of Excelsoft were not available for comment.
Post this move by Arohi, the promoters of Excelsoft currently hold 55 per cent. While details of Arohi is not clear, sources indicate that this firm manages a corpus of around $300 million.
Excelsoft provides a range of customised learner-centric systems, test and assessment systems and desktop tools. Industry analysts indicate that this firm has attracted such a premium valuation due its product licensing approach on which services and consulting add value and stickiness.
“Excelsoft has created intellectual property in the area of e-learning technologies and combines its strengths in software development, instructional design and e-learning content development to deliver e-learning solutions,” the analyst noted.
This licensing approach is also one of the key reason for this firm to turn in profits of around Rs 25 crore on a topline of close to Rs 60 crore.
Excelsoft presently employs around 500 people across Mysore, Hyderabad and New Delhi, and serves a marquee of clients from global educational publishers, universities and corporates.
A few of the clients of the firm are Pearson Education, Infosys Technologies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Oxford University, World Bank, UNESCO besides a clutch of others. Excelsoft, off late, has been keenly focussing on the test and assessment platform which are key enablers for universities.
The company of late has been keenly focusing on the test and assessment platforms which are key enablers for universities.
Excelsoft joins a select few e-learning firms such as Educom and Tutorvista in India who are breaking new ground in attracting premium valuations.
For a fact, when D E Shaw picked up the 35 per cent stake in Excelsoft, UTI Ventures made a blockbuster exit by reaping returns of 50 times.
UTI Ventures had invested a little over Rs 2 crore in Excelsoft and exited for around Rs 125 crore, making this one of the top exits in the recent history of PEôVC investments in India.
Source: Business Standard