Saturday, March 27, 2010

Ness Technologies Acquires Gilon Business Insight

Ness strengthens position as leading provider of enterprise solutions


Tel Aviv, Israel/ Bangalore - March 26, 2010 – Ness Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTC and TASE: NSTC), a global provider of IT services and solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gilon Business Insight Ltd., a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) consulting and implementation solutions and services. The acquisition further positions Ness Technologies as a leading provider of enterprise solutions, with a proven blend of ERP, BI and CRM capabilities. Ness will utilize Gilon’s capabilities to help fulfill the growing demand for business intelligence applications, solutions and services around the world.
The purchase price in the all cash transaction is 65 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS), or approximately $17.5 million. In addition, should Gilon achieve certain performance goals, Ness will pay an additional amount of up to NIS 9 million, or approximately $2.4 million. In fiscal year 2009, Gilon generated revenues of about $22 million and was profitable. The acquisition is expected to be accretive for 2010, on a non-GAAP basis. As of the end of December 2009, Gilon had approximately 230 employees and it currently has 280 employees, mainly in Israel. The acquisition is expected to close during Q2.
“The acquisition of Gilon is an important step enhancing our global business intelligence offerings,” said Larry Scott, President of Ness Global Industries. “Gilon complements our strong presence in the North American business intelligence marketplace, enabling us to deliver state-of-the-art business intelligence solutions and systems using a multi-shore delivery model. Business intelligence solutions are one of our most important global capabilities, as enterprises around the world struggle to turn massive amounts of data into meaningful, actionable business knowledge.”
“Business intelligence is one of our value added solutions for enterprise customers, and especially for their strategic decision makers,” said Effi Kotek, President of Ness Israel. “In Israel, this acquisition strengthens our position as a leading provider of enterprise solutions in general, and business intelligence in particular. We look forward to having Gilon’s employees and management join the Ness team to cement and grow our market leading position for BI solutions and services.”
“We are very excited to become part of Ness Technologies and we look forward to contributing to the company’s service offerings and success around the globe,” said Guy Greenberg, Gilon’s CEO. “Our integration with Ness is a natural step for us. We bring to Ness a highly experienced team in consulting, implementation, training and management of large scale BI projects.”
“We were fortunate to join forces with Gilon’s founders and management to turn Gilon into the leading BI provider in Israel,” said Avi Zeevi, Active Chairman of Gilon, who led the investment in Gilon on behalf of DPartners and Viola Group. “The acquisition by Ness will enable Gilon to accelerate its growth as a true global player.”
About Ness Technologies
Ness Technologies (NASDAQ: NSTC and TASE: NSTC) is a global provider of IT and business services and solutions with specialized expertise in software product engineering; system integration, application development and consulting; and software distribution. Ness delivers its portfolio of solutions and services using a global delivery model combining offshore, near-shore and local teams. With about 7,800 employees, Ness maintains operations in 18 countries, and partners with numerous software and hardware vendors worldwide.
About Gilon Business Insight
Gilon Business Insight is a business intelligence consulting group offering a wide array of BI solutions and services, including high-level strategic consulting, enterprise analytical services, industry-specific out-of-the-box solutions, strong on-time delivery and proven implementation capabilities. Gilon’s client portfolio comprises large and medium size organizations with main focus and expertise in financial services, telecommunications companies, and large enterprises. Gilon is headquartered in Israel and also has operations in Turkey.
About D Partners
D Partners, an affiliate of the Viola Group, is an innovative private equity investment fund focused primarily on growth opportunities in Israel. The D Partners funds have approximately $300 million under management. These funds are uniquely structured to offer private investors investment opportunities that normally are only available to institutional investors. D Partners applies a diversified approach, and benefits from unique access to investing in the Viola Group funds in a special economic efficient structure, and in a complementary portfolio of Israeli and Israeli-related companies.

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