Multiples Alternate Asset Management and its co-investors announced it signed definitive documents to acquire a controlling stake in a high-growth digital product engineering platform QBurst. This deal, with an investment of $200 million, marks Multiples’ most significant control investment in technology services.
Launched in 2004, QBurst has grown into a global leader in digital solutions, offering services in digital product development, enterprise digitalization, data analytics, cloud services, AI and generative AI services, automation, DevOps, digital marketing enablement, etc. With a strong presence across North America, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, and India, the company has 3,000+ employees and maintains an agile, customer-centric approach while fostering top engineering talent.
The deal is subject to receipt of statutory and regulatory approvals. BDA Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as the legal advisor and EY as the tax advisor to QBurst and its founders on the transaction. Anagram Partners acted as the legal advisor, and EY as the financial and tax advisor to Multiples.
KEY QUOTES:
“QBurst, with its remarkable journey powered by cutting-edge engineering, has carved a distinctive position in the global market. Our partnership will drive transformational success for the company, backed by exceptional talent addition, increased investments in emerging technologies and strategic acquisitions. While Multiples holds a controlling stake, the founders – Prathapan Sethu, Binu Dasappan and Ansar Shihabudeen – will continue to have a meaningful stake, ensuring the continuity of the best practices and values that have shaped the company’s growth. Multiples is focused on technology services companies operating in high growth areas. We have also stepped up our US origination capabilities, marking a beginning of many such large-scale control transactions.”
– Renuka Ramnath, Founder, MD & CEO of Multiples
“QBurst is a differentiated tech services platform with end-to-end product development capabilities and a customer-centric technical solutions approach. We are excited to work on accelerating its growth and unlocking its full potential. This investment demonstrates Multiples’ continued focus on technology driven businesses, as evidenced in our portfolio of Companies such as AI and Data services player Quantiphi, HR Tech business PeopleStrong, customer engagement SaaS business MoEngage, and other tech-centric businesses such as Delhivery, Dream Sports, Acko, Licious and India Energy Exchange. Enterprise Tech is a priority sector for us and we intend to deploy close to USD2 bn in the space over the next 5 years.”
– Manish Gaur, Managing Director and Head of Enterprise Technology, Multiples
“My co-founders, Binu Dasappan, Ansar Shihabudeen, and I have built QBurst with a focus on innovation and excellence. In Multiples, we have found a partner who not only shares our values but also brings the strategic prowess and ability to accelerate our aspirations. While we are proud of transforming QBurst from a startup into a global digital engineering force over the past two decades, I believe our partnership with Multiples will help us achieve something extraordinary in the years ahead.”
– Prathapan Sethu, Co-founder of QBurst
