Quess Corp eyes more global acquisition post IPO in mid-June
Quess Corp, an Indian staffing services firm, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The Bangalore-based company had announced its plans for an IPO in January to raise about Rs 400 crore from the market.
The company had filed a DRHP for the IPO with SEBI in February and received the first set of clarifications in March. Upon responding to those, SEBI approved the IPO on April 26, and the company has decided to go to the market in mid-June.
"We have proposed to raise Rs 400 crores through an IPO. We propose to use the proceeds from the issue primarily towards funding our inorganic growth strategy, incremental working capital requirements, repayment of debt and capex. Further to the above, we believe that listing of our equity shares will result in enhancement of our Company’s brand, and creation of a public markets for our equity shares," said Ajit Isaac, Chairman & MD, Quess Corp.
The company has hired Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, IIFL Holdings and YES Securities to manage the issue.
"We are looking to expand our service portfolio and our operations globally through strategic acquisitions. Till date, we have successfully expanded our service portfolio through a number of acquisitions. In conjunction to our organic growth strategies, we intend to pursue strategic opportunities in complementary service offerings such as payroll and compliance management, IT staffing, facility management, industrial asset management etc," Ajit Isaac added.
Since its inception, the company has been creating milestones in acquiring other firms. In 2009, it acquired Avon, a facility management company. In 2010, Quess acquired Coachieve which is a HR solutions company, and also Magna Infotech, an IT staffing firm. In 2014, it acquired Hofincons, a consulting and asset management services company and Brainhunter, an IT solutions firm. It also acquired a 49% stake in MFX, an IT infrastructure company. In 2015, the company also acquired the beneficial rights/ interest in the profits and net assets of Styracorp and IME Consultancy, both human resource consultancy entities. In 2016, Quess Corp finally acquired the balance 51% stake in MFX, and then acquired Randstand Lanka, a HR services company.
Quess, co-promoted by Thomas Cook (India) Limited, was established in 2007 in Bengaluru. The company serves over 1300+ customers across 8 countries. Its presence pans across 4 segments namely, Global Technology Solutions, People & Services, Integrated Facilities Management and Industrial Asset Management.