India-based digital ecosystem enabler Tata Communications has on Friday announced that it will acquire United States-listed communications platform as a service (CPaaS) platform Kaleyra at approximately $100 million.

Tata Communications said in a statement that it has entered into a definitive agreement through Tata Communications to acquire Kaleyra to empower global enterprises to offer personalized experiences to their customers.

Kaleyra is a global omnichannel integrated communication services provider with a set of proprietary platforms, offering targeted personalization through messaging, video, push notifications, e-mail and voice-based services, and chatbots.

With this transaction, Tata Communications will gain an industry-proven platform with strong capabilities and scale.

Kaleyra brings a stronghold in the business communications market in banking and financial services, retail and digital commerce industries across global markets, in addition to a strong team with expertise in technology, engineering and research and development.

Tata Communications will also benefit from Tier 1 carrier connections in the United States, ready connectors to third party platforms, and video services without the need for additional software plugins.

The resulting business will leverage Tata Communications large base of enterprise customers worldwide including 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, extensive mobile network operator (MNO) connections and global expansion opportunities.

It will benefit from the global digital ecosystem enabler that powers today’s fast-growing digital economy in more than 190 countries and territories.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tata Communications has agreed to acquire Kaleyra, Inc. in a cash only transaction, at a price per share of $7.25 and the assumption of all outstanding debt.

Upon closing of the transaction, expected in six to nine months, Kaleyra will become a subsidiary of Tata Communications.

For the full year ended December 31, 2022, Kaleyra reported revenue of $339.2 million, an increase of 26.7 percent compared to the full year 2021.

“With this investment in Kaleyra, we will accelerate our push into the customer interactions platform market and fortify our global CommTech position,” said A.S. Lakshminarayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tata Communications.

“We are excited about Kaleyra’s remarkable talent and their demonstrated capabilities in next-gen technologies,

“With this acquisition, we will further build intelligent, intuitive and innovative multi-channel communication solutions to unlock new growth opportunities for our customers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tata Communications Collaboration and Connected Solutions Executive Vice President Mysore Madhusudhan said that as the firm furthers its position in the industry 4.0 world, it is committed to offering heightened targeted communications solutions for enterprises and their customers.

“We are confident our combined forces with Kaleyra will forge the path for the next wave of intelligence in enterprise communications globally,” he said.

Kaleyra board of directors Chairman Dr. Avi Katz said that this transaction represents a significant premium to the last closing share price and delivers significant value creation to all Kaleyra stakeholders.

“We are excited about the next chapter of the Kaleyra journey, being an essential part of the Tata Communications enterprise,” he said.

A part of the Tata Group, Tata Communications is a global digital ecosystem enabler powering fast-growing digital economy in more than 190 countries and territories.

The firm enables digital transformation of enterprises globally with collaboration and connected solutions, core and next gen connectivity, cloud hosting and security solutions and media services.

Kaleyra is a global group providing mobile communication services to financial institutions, e-commerce players, over-the-tops (OTTs), software companies, logistic enablers, healthcare providers, retailers, and other large organizations worldwide.

Through its proprietary platform and robust application programming interface (APIs), Kaleyra manages multi-channel integrated communication services, consisting of messaging, rich messaging and instant messaging, video, push notifications, e-mail, voice services, and chatbots.

Kaleyra’s technology makes it possible to safely and securely manage billions of messages monthly with over 1600 operator connections in 190+ countries, including all tier-1 US carrier.

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