Pipal Research acquired for $13M

Posted by admin updated on 26 Sep, 2010

Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd (CRISIL), the Indian affiliate of Standard & Poor’s, has acquired Chicago-headquartered knowledge process outsourcing company Pipal Research for $12.75 million (Rs. 58 Cr). Pipal is majority owned by BPO services major Firstsource Solutions, which picked up a 51% stake in the firm in 2004.

Pipal Research provides business and investment research services in sectors like technology, telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, industrials and financial services. It was founded in 2001 by former McKinsey professional Manoj Jain who is also its current chairman. Pipal Research has three research centers in India in Gurgaon, Noida and Bangalore. The company reported $8.1 million revenue for FY10.

Pipal will be integrated into CRISIL’s KPO division, Irevna. The division provides equity research, derivatives support, commodities research, actuarial services and foreign exchange research to investment banks, insurance companies, asset management firms and other financial institutions. CRISIL is planning to expand Irevna’s geographical reach and is shortly setting up a research center in China.

Speaking of the acquisition, Roopa Kudva, MD & CEO of CRISIL said, “We have been in the high-end offshoring business for over five years following our acquisition of Irevna. Irevna currently has a strong base among finance and insurance companies.” She added that “KPO is now a significant part of our research, which now accounts for 44% of our revenues.” Sanjeev Arora, President & CEO, Pipal Research commented “Both Pipal and CRISIL bring very high quality and complementary knowledge services to the global markets and the combined entity will be very well positioned to continually lead the global knowledge service markets.”

The acquisition has been an all cash deal with MAPE advisory as the sole advisor.

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Pipal Research is a global custom research firm that delivers business and financial research & analysis. 

CRISIL is India’s leading Ratings, Research, Risk and Policy Advisory Company.