Norway based Crayon Group, which handles software licensing for global players such as Microsoft, VMware, and Oracle, has marked an Indian entry by acquiring 80% stake in Chennai-based Kryptos Networks for about INR 24 Cr.
Crayon Group plans to invest about $12 Mn in Indian operations in the next two years.
Chennai based Kryptos operates in the software licensing space working on a pay-per-use model. It manages licenses of leading software products including that of Microsoft, VMWare, Symantec and Citrix to service providers including Infosys, Wipro and HCL in India.
Jens Rugseth, CEO, Crayon Group said, “Right from our entry into Asia, we have been planning to enter India either organically or inorganically. In Kryptos Networks, we found great value and services that are in sync with Crayon’s global way of functioning that made us consider the brand. With this entry, we are confident of adding more value to the services we offer to large clients globally, that have a presence in India, and also to the organisations here. I am confident that India will emerge as one of our key locations and will contribute significantly both in terms of services to clients and revenue to the group.”
Crayon group is a global leader in software asset management (SAM) with presence in 23 countries. It offers licences from Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, Citrix, VMware, Oracle, IBM and others.
The pay-per-use software licensing market in India is worth about $10-$ Mn, of which Kryptos has an 85% share. Currently it has presence in 4 cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune with its further plans to expand in Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad by the year end. Post-acquisition Kryptos will continue to operate under its name but work as part of the Crayon Group.
Kryptos Group was founded by Prasanna Ram in 2007.
