Romesh Wadhwani’s Symphony Teleca acquires Aditi Technologies

Aditi is based in Bangalore but has offices in the US, too.

By Deepak Chitnis

WASHINGTON, DC: The Symphony Teleca Corporation (STC), a California-based IT company, has announced that it will acquire Bangalore-based Aditi Technologies as part of its plan to “expand leadership in systems of engagement.”

The purchase cost is somewhere between Rs. 450-Rs.480 crore, according to reports. By offering up that much to buy Aditi, STC beat out several other competitors who were also bidding on the small-but-profitable firm, including Pune’s Zansar Technologies.

Aditi is an IT firm that specializes in cloud-based technology. According to its website, Aditi has had a long-standing relationship with Microsoft, and has been one of its Gold Partners for the last 17 years. That’s almost certainly because the firm was founded by Pradeep Singh, a former employee of Microsoft who is now Aditi’s Founder and Chairman. The company has around 1,500 employees, and records revenues of Rs. 450 crore for 2013.

STC is a much larger firm, with about 6,000 employees spread across some 35 nations around the world.  It is owned by the Symphony Technology group, which is run by Indian American entrepreneur and philanthropist Romesh Wadhwani. STC specializes in software, mobile, and analytics, and is hoping that the Aditi acquisition will help expand its cloud-based technology presence.

“Symphony Teleca and Aditi are both leaders in innovation and I welcome Aditi to the Symphony Teleca team,” said Romesh Wadhwani, in a press release. “We take pride in our commitment to help our customers realize the huge potential that cloud, mobile and analytics present. This acquisition is further evidence of our commitment and the combined team is the clear global leader in delivering product and solution development services that drive innovation-led growth for our clients.”

One of Aditi’s main identifying factors is its expertise in SoE – Systems of Engagement. That market is a relatively new but rapidly expanding one, with STC saying in its press release that SoE will go from a $33 billion industry last year, to a $111 billion industry in 2020. Once the acquisition goes through, Aditi will operate as a division of STC, and will be led by Pradeep Rathinam, the company’s current CEO.

“The confluence of intelligent devices, cloud and analytics is the next breakthrough business opportunity for our customers. Joining forces with STC positions us as an innovation catalyst for our customers by helping them engage and understand their customers,” said Rathinam.

Aditi is no small fry, either, having a few large acquisitions under its belt. In 2011, it bought a Seattle-based cloud computing start-up called Cumulux, and bought another cloud-based company in India last year. Currently, Aditi has three offices in India (Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore), five in the US (Seattle, Mountain View, New York City, Chicago, and Boston), and one in London.