Prism announced the signing of a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Al-Suwaidi group of Saudi Arabia to purchase 51% shareholding in Information Management Technologies (IMT), the software arm of the Al-Suwaidi group.

Al-Suwaidi Holding Company Ltd. (ISO 9002 certified)is one of the top 100 Fortune companies of Saudi Arabia, Established in 1960, the company enjoys an unsurpassed reputation for executing large complex construction projects including petrochemical plants, electromechanical works, steel fabrication, etc. It is regarded one of the top contractors for maintenance and operation of many industrial facilities in Saudi Aramco, Royal Commission and other Semi Government facilities.

IMT provides end-to-end IT solutions for broadband wireless communications (Wi-Lan, Colubris), Infrastructure Management & Maintenance, SAP consultancy services, JD Edwards Application Service Provisioning (ASP), Crystal Reports framework, IT security solutions and E-Commerce applications.

Prism Informatics Limited is a rapidly growing consulting and IT services company having its footprint in Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, US and India. It has a consolidated running rate revenue of over US $ 15 mn in under one year of operations, post acquisition by Idhasoft Limited. It is listed on the Stock Exchange, Mumbai, with a market capitalization of close to US $ 15 mn. With the acquisition of IMT, it is expected that the consolidated revenue would increase to over $ 22 mn.

Announcing the signing of the SPA, Mr. Qasem M. Al-Suwaidi, the Group Chairman and CEO said that he was extremely happy with the strengths brought in by Prism Informatics Limited and that he was confident of IMT becoming a US $ 100 mn company in 5 years time. Further, IMT would become the base for further expansion in the Middle East. Mr. Al-Suwaidi was extremely optimistic of the growth of the Saudi Arabian IT market and was confident of IMT becoming a significant player in the space.

Mr. Alok Pathak, MD and CEO of Prism, expressed happiness at the signing of the SPA. He was of the view that the Saudi market had not yet been tapped in a professional manner, especially for high end consulting and IT services. Even now, Prism has quite a few business dealings in Saudi Arabia, including one of the world's leading manufacturers of petrochemicals, chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and metals. With the acquisition of the shareholding in IMT, Prism would have a local presence in Saudi Arabia and the reputation of the Al-Suwaidi group would go a long way in ensuring that business flowed to IMT. Further, Mr. Pathak felt that this was the start of a long relationship with the Al-Suwaidi group and that it would result in success for all the stakeholders.

Mr. Mohan Natarajan, Director Finance, Prism, felt that this was the culmination of a process started some time back and that this was an ideal time to venture into the Middle Eastern geography. The Saudi Arabian market is presently $ 1 bn in size, which is expected to increase five fold in the next 3 years.This gives a substantial opportunity to various IT firms to grow by leaps and bounds. IMT would be able to leverage on the global strengths of Prism, in diverse areas from high end consulting to IT.

Mr. Gyan Prakash Agarwal, Head of Business Development of Al-Suwaidi group, expressed happiness at the successful completion of the entire process. He was of the view that the Al-Suwaidi group would benefit from the global expertise of Prism in consolidating its presence in the Saudi Arabian and Middle East markets. Further, he also felt that Prism would greatly benefit by virtue of establishing a presence in the Middle East, in partnership with an established group such as Al-Suwaidi group.