Indian multinational Tech Mahindra has taken a majority stake in Irish pharma labeller Perigord in a multi-million euro deal.
The listed company has paid €21 million for a 70 per cent stake in the Dublin-based group. It plans to acquire the remaining 30 per cent stake over the next four years at a valuation linked to the financial performance of the company.
Founded over 40 years ago and with operations in Ireland, Germany, the US and India, Perigord provides packaging artwork services and software solutions for the life sciences industry.
With 400 employees globally and working across 100 countries, the company’s main solution is a platform called GLAMS, which is a workflow management system designed for the pharma sector.
Perigord reported revenue of €19.5 million last year. It received €425,000 from Enterprise Ireland in R&D grants and a €5.4 million investment from the BDO Development Capital fund.
As part of the deal with Tech Mahindra, Perigord is to take over the company’s design and packaging centre in Hyderabad.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Perigord chief executive Alan Leamy said he expected the partnership to lead to more jobs locally.
“We employ around 120 people in Dublin, but Ireland isn’t really a big market for us, although we expect that to change following the deal because with their backing we are looking to expand both here and in other markets.”
Mr Leamy said the company was approached by Tech Mahindra just as it was weighing raising funds.
“This is a good deal for us because it extends what we do, with Tech Mahindra having over 800 customers. But it also makes sense to them because we bring skills that they don’t currently have,” he added.
Revenues
Pune-based Tech Mahindra is a provider of digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering services.
Part of the Mahindra Group, which has revenues of $231 billion, it employs more than 124,250 people across 90 countries. It reported revenues of $5.2 billion last year.
The company has steadily built up operations in Ireland in recent years, announcing plans to create 150 jobs locally in 2017 after it opened a new centre of excellence in Dublin.
"Perigord's disruptive proprietary platform and expertise in the artwork space and life sciences industry will add significant value to our offerings and capabilities," said Vivek Agarwal, head of corporate development at Tech Mahindra.
This article has been updated as an earlier version stated Enterprise Ireland had given a grant of €2.4 million in 2016. This has been corrected
