January 31 IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd is eyeing inorganic growth opportunities by looking for acquisitions in Artificial Intelligence(AI), automation and blockchain platforms, according to the management of the company. The company also plans diversification of base and bolster existing verticals.

Joseph Anantharaju, executive vice chairman, told Business Line that, “The lever we are considering is to look at companies that either have an expertise in a specific platform, or in the automation space, or in the AI space, which will allow us to grow.” With Multiverse and NFTs taking off, it could become a technology that could underpin a lot of transactions in a couple of years, he added. 

Diversification of base in one of the other geographies is another lever the company is considering. Happiest minds is preferably looking to diversify in Europe, Australia or the Middle East, considering the customers and opportunities as an evaluation criteria. Prioritising specific verticals o bolster and make it significant is also at play, said Anantharaju. “We are also looking for sub segments within existing verticals which will wincrease our revenue, lfor example, our newer vertical healthcare,” he added. 

On the process of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Venkatraman N, MD & CFO said, “In life’s early stages, we have to be a bit more careful regarding acquisition, because it becomes a building block for the company’s future.” A smaller mid-size company has to be a lot more careful, and so the company’s filters are a stronger or tighter than that of a large company from an M&A standpoint. But efforts are underway and that is one of the key strategies for growth for Happiest Minds, he added. 

“We have come very close to a few, and the whole exercise is being speeded up. We have engaged with a couple of bankers on a retained kind of a search model. It’s like a marriage– hope we get the right person, and then we’ll do it,” Venkatraman said. 

Happiest Minds Technologies on Friday reported a 7.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) sequential growth in revenue to ₹283.94 crore for the quarter ended December 2021. On a year-on-year(y-o-y) basis the revenue grew by 47.2 per cent. The profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter jumped to ₹48.92 crore, a 16.1 per cent increase y-o-y. On a sequential basis, it spiked 10.1 per cent.

Additional reporting Haripriya Sureban

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