US-headquartered Aricent, a technology and outsourcing company in the communications space, has received private equity (PE) funding of $30 million from a consortium of companies.
The consortium consists of KKR (an existing investor in Aricent) and Bahrain-based The Family Office. The funding can go up to $ 60 million by end of October.
According to Duncan Robertson, CFO, Aricent, the money raised will be used for the expanding the company?s operations and sustaining growth. Incidentally, Aricent plans to take the organic as well as inorganic route for future growth.
?We are looking at opportunities in the acquisition space. The likely target will be companies operating in infrastructure OEM and software services (application and device),? said Robertson. The company is looking at acquisitions in North America, Europe and Asia.
Aricent is also aggressively looking at expanding its operations in the Middle East, where it plans to leverage the partnership with The Family Office.
In September 2006, KKR along with Sequoia Capital bought around 75% stake in Aricent. KKR, Sequoia Capital and Flextronics International Ltd hold around 85% in the company, while the rest 15% stake lies with the management and the employees.
While Europe and North America contribute 40% each to the company?s revenues, the rest 20% comes from other parts of the world. Robertson foresees no significant change in this ratio. Aricent recorded revenues of $470 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2008-09 and signed 49 new customers.