Connectiva to Be Acquired

Revenue assurance and analytics systems specialist Connectiva Systems is on the brink of being acquired by IT services firm Mara Ison Technologies, Light Reading India has confirmed.

According to a senior executive at Dubai-based Mara Ison, which currently does most of its business in Africa, the deal is set to close in about a week or so. However, the company executives closest to the deal were not available to provide further insight into the strategy behind the acquisition.

So what is Mara Ison buying exactly?

Connectiva has been a well known name in the sector for some time and has had particular success in India, citing Bharti Airtel Ltd., Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Idea Cellular Ltd. as customers, as well as having success in Africa. (See and .)

During the past few years it has acquired Israeli customer experience and analytics vendor Olista and unveiled a number of new software tools. (See , Connectiva Launches Mobile Analytics.)

And in August 2011, President and CEO Avi Basu talked of new investments and expansion, with plans to add to the staff already based in Kolkata. (See Connectiva Eyes India Expansion.)

But despite its deployments in India and elsewhere, Connectiva appears to have run into problems of late: Offices listed on the company's website are no longer occupied, phone lines dead and a number of senior executives still listed on the website left the company some time ago.

This acquisition, then, looks like a route to salvation for a company that in September 2008 raised $17 million from its investors -- NEA-IndoUS Ventures, IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), SAP Ventures, and Ovation Capital.

In total the company is believed to have raised more than $30 million and to have been generating revenues of between $20 million and $30 million per year.

Certainly Heavy Reading senior analyst Ari Banerjee sees the impending acquisition as a good move for Connectiva. The deal will see the "pure-play revenue assurance and fraud market shrink further. Connectiva had bought Olista previously and was gearing up to compete with likes of cVidya Networks Inc., Subex Ltd., Teoco Corp. and WeDo Technologies."

He adds: "However, Connectiva has failed to consistently perform in this extremely competitive market segment. Its success has been mainly restricted to India, Africa with very few wins in North America and Western Europe. This looks like a safe haven for Connectiva and overall it should be a fair buy for Mara Ison."

Connectiva's customers will certainly be hoping for a safe haven. Not everyone will be so happy, though. Discontent about the company's actions during the past few months has been evident online, especially at this blog, where employees have been venting their anger about alleged lack of wages and financial mismanagement.

So far Light Reading India has been unable to reach Connectiva CEO Avi Basu for any comment. He can be found in video form online, though, where he (perhaps ironically?) features in a video entitled How Do You Fire Someone?

Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading