Adamantem sells Australia's Servian to US strategic
Australia’s Adamantem Capital has agreed to sell its position local data analytics consultancy Servian to US counterpart Cognizant for an undisclosed sum.
This is Adamantem’s first exit from Fund I, which closed at A$608 million ($468 million) in 2018 and targets companies with enterprise valuations in a range of A$100-500 million. It backed Servian in 2018, reportedly taking a 50% stake.
It follows a period of growth for Servian, which has become Google’s biggest cloud services partner in Asia Pacific. The company expanded from 250 to over 500 employees during Adamantem’s ownership period, with offices across Australasia, the UK, and India. Recent activity includes the acquisition of Australia-based Vibrato and EnterpriseIT, which extended operations into New Zealand.
Adamantem describes Servian as a segment leader locally, providing advisory, consulting, and managed services to clients across multiple sectors. In addition to its core data and analytics capability, Servian claims complementary expertise in artificial intelligence, customer experience, internet-of-things, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies. Alongside Google, its partners include Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce, and Oracle.
“Enabling clients to leverage their data assets for accelerating business transformation and driving competitive advantage is at the heart of our success,” Tony Nicol, founder of Servian, said in a statement. “With Cognizant's deep industry expertise and global scale, we will be able to apply our strengths in strategic advisory, engineering delivery, and managed services across an even broader spectrum of challenges and opportunities presented by the digital economy.”
NASDAQ-listed Cognizant has a market capitalization of $43.8 million and more than 1,200 professionals in Australia serving some 110 clients. Servian represents the company’s 10th digital-focused acquisition since January 2020. Cognizant CEO Jane Livesey noted that Australia and New Zealand were at an inflection point in terms of digital adoption.
Adamantem was established in 2016 by Anthony Kerwick and Rob Koczkar, both formerly of Pacific Equity Partners. Portfolio companies include electrical products specialist Legend Corporation, horse feed maker Hygain Holdings, meat products processor Hellers, and home care provider Zenitas Healthcare.
Towards the end of last year, it secured a A$675 million first close for Fund II that featured a strong showing from first-time LPs despite due diligence limitations related to COVID-19. The target is A$700 million.
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