Dallas-based Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, is one of the largest firms dedicated exclusively to business taxes. It provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local and international tax services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consultancy, advocacy, compliance and technology services. The company set up its office in Hyderabad, whih is claimed to be the largest outside the US, and is exploring the Indian market to offer advisory and consultancy services. G Brint Ryan, chairman and CEO tells BV Mahalakshmi that the India office in not a mere ancillary support centre but a critical centre to its US operations. Besides offering tax services from Hyderabad office, it is also looking out for buyouts in India. One of the biggest opportunities remains digital transformation as countries and tax departments go digital. Excerpts:
What are your India plans and the services offered by the Hyderabad office?
We opened our facility in Hyderabad, which reflects our contributions that our India team has on Ryan’s strong financial performance. We have invested $3 million in India operations. We have experienced remarkable growth around the world and our Indian team members continue to be a valuable asset to the success of our firm. The India business operations provide global support with data processing, market research, asset recovery, software development, human resource analytics, competitive intelligence, robotic process automation, and business process management. We currently employ 500 in Hyderabad and plan to hire 50 to 60 additional team members in 2020. The FY 2019 revenues were approximately $590 million and FY 2020 revenues are projected to be approximately $675 million. Our Hyderabad team supports all aspects of Ryan. This includes ancillary support of both Ryan corporate functions as well as almost all Ryan practice areas. It also includes critical support and frontline service delivery for our property tax consulting and management practices as well as asset recovery and transaction tax services.
What is the addressable market opportunity in India given the GST regime and is the company looking out for clients in India?
Not currently. While Ryan International has plans to enter the Indian market, no time line currently exists for such entry. Although we don’t have exact figures on the total addressable market for India tax services, we know that the opportunity is significant and growing. We look forward to offer our services in the Indian market.
How important is organic and inorganic growth for the company and the expected deals in 2020?
Our growth plans rely on both organic and inorganic growth, each in roughly equal weights. For 2020, we anticipate average deal size to be in the $15-$20 million range for roughly $50 million total. We have a robust pipeline for acquisitions currently. The company is looking at acquiring competitor property tax service providers, which will give geographical reach, new service lines such as federal R&D tax credits to strengthen current practice and SaaS or cloud application providers. Besides acquisitions, we are also actively looking at start-ups that are working on new solutions and platforms, by investing in them.
What is the role of robotics, data analytics and other nextgen technologies while offering your integrated end-to-end tax services?
These emerging technologies are playing an important role in both our internal service delivery functions as well as presenting direct client service opportunities such as “bots-as-a service” and other technology offerings. As governments around the world go digital, it is creating significant tax technology service demands from our clients. We focus on all major verticals. Energy, particularly oil and gas, is a major sector for the company while there is also high demand for tax and financial services in the healthcare sector. There is also demand coming from retail because of the transition in technology usage and businesses going online, with an intention to reduce taxes. The opportunities are different but tax in every sector in its own unique way is complex. We are also creating industry-focused domain knowledge within our teams be it energy or healthcare or any vertical. One of the biggest opportunities remains digital transformation as countries and tax departments go digital. We are deploying robotic systems to clients and introducing digital tools and data analytics that help in tax compliance and management. We are also integrating cyber-security tools into our platform while offering our services.