Indian – US couple Bharat Desai and his wife Neeraj Sethi who started IT Services Company Syntel in 1980 has sold their company to French IT major Atos for $3.4 bn in an all-cash deal. 

In an announcement, Syntel shared that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Atos S.E. under which Atos will acquire all outstanding shares of Syntel for $41.00 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.57 billion, including Syntel’s net debt. The deal was unanimously approved by the full Board of Directors of Syntel based on the unanimous recommendation of a Special Committee of the Board.

Both the technology company has a strong foothold in the Indian market. Syntel has over 18,000 employees while Atos staff strength is approximately at 16,000. This acquisition will positively impact the Syntel’s talent pool and Syntel's management team is likely to join Atos. 

Thierry Breton, Chairman and CEO of Atos said: “I am very proud to announce such an important milestone in Atos’s leadership development with the proposed acquisition of Syntel.”

He added, “I am looking forward to welcoming the 23,000 Syntel employees and their very strong management to continue delivering together the highest value to our clients and shareholders.”

Sharing his thought on this development, Bharat Desai, co-chairman of Syntel said, "This is a very exciting development for Syntel. The Syntel board is committed to maximizing shareholder value and believes that the agreement with Atos achieves that objective and delivers a win-win proposition to our customers and employees.”

Completion of this transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, approval of Syntel’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Completion of this transaction is not subject to any financing condition.  

In connection with the merger agreement, Syntel’s founders and certain of their affiliated entities, who collectively own approximately 51.07% of the outstanding Syntel shares, entered into an agreement with Atos to vote their shares in favor of the merger agreement, subject to their right to terminate their obligations in the event the Syntel Board changes its recommendation to shareholders or if the definitive agreement is terminated. The parties expect to close the transaction during the second half of 2018.