Mastek Makes Second Splash in the U.S.

Mumbai, India — Mastek, an IT solutions player with global operations providing new technology and IP-led enterprise solutions to insurance, government and financial services organizations worldwide, announced the acquisition of Systems Task Group International Ltd. (STG), an IP-based enterprise solutions provider to the North American P&C insurance industry.

This acquisition is the second such initiative by Mastek during the current financial year, and follows the acquisition of another insurance-focused IT company Vector Insurance Services in July 2007. Under the terms of the agreement, Mastek's wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary MajescoMastek will hold 100% equity stake in STG. The consideration for this acquisition will be paid partly in cash and partly by way of future cash earn outs.

Following this transaction, STG will operate as "STGMastek." Headquartered in New York, with a fully integrated offshore competency center in Mumbai, STG leverages its enterprise applications Renaissance suite and ParadigmASP to provide the full spectrum of solutions and services to customers in the North American P&C insurance industry in the areas of policy and billing administration, claims processing and point-of-sales administration.

The company has about 350 employees with significant P&C insurance domain expertise, and a customer base that includes more than 35 small- and mid-sized American insurance carriers. Keeping in view that Mastek already has an intellectual property (ElixirT), and a growing market presence in the life and annuity segment that was accelerated by the acquisition of the U.S.-based Vector Insurance Services (now VectorMastek) in July 2007, this latest transaction in the non-life segment is expected to noticeably strengthen Mastek's market position and expand the opportunity pipeline in the overall insurance vertical.

"This acquisition is another important step in furthering our strategy to expand our presence in both the life and non-life segments of the high-opportunity U.S. insurance market," says Sudhakar Ram, chairman and MD, Mastek.

"STG enjoys very strong brand recognition and has, over the years, built a satisfied customer base in the P&C insurance industry," Ram continues. "With STG's established strengths in the P&C segment complementing our own competencies in the life and annuity segment, our status as a leading IP-based enterprisewide solutions provider in the insurance vertical will be reinforced with this initiative."

Praful Nikam, STG's chairman and founder, says: "We are very enthusiastic about the opportunities presented by joining Mastek. They have world-class processes and capabilities, as well as a global presence and strong intellectual property. We believe that our existing and future customers will substantially benefit from the size and scale of Mastek, as well as their superior system integration capabilities and processes."

Source: The Economic Times