Tata Comm to acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra for $100 mn in all-cash deal

Tata Communications on Wednesday announced that it would acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra, a global omnichannel integrated communication services provider with a set of proprietary platforms offering targeted personalisation through messaging, video, push notification, e-mails and voice-based services, and chatbots.

The acquisition is an all cash deal.

Tata Communications has agreed to acquire Kaleyra at a price per share of $7.25, for a total consideration to Kaleyra shareholders of approximately $100 million, besides the assumption of all outstanding debt.

The company has gross debt of $224.9 million and net debt of around $150 million.

“With this investment in Kaleyra, we will accelerate our push into the customer interactions platform market and fortify our global CommTech position,” said A S Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications.

“We are excited about Kaleyra’s remarkable talent and their demonstrated capabilities in next-gen technologies.

"With this acquisition, we will further build intelligent, intuitive and innovative multi-channel communication solutions to unlock new growth opportunities for our customers.”

Kaleyra has a stronghold in the business communications market in banking and financial services, retail, and digital commerce industries across global markets, in addition to a strong team with expertise in technology, engineering, and research & development.

The firm reported revenue of $339.17 million in 2022, up from $267.74 million in CY21.

Consummation of the deal is subject to approval by Kaleyra’s stockholders, certain regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

Upon closing of the transaction, expected in six to nine months, Kaleyra will become a subsidiary of Tata Communications.

Dario Calogero, founder and CEO of Kaleyra, said: “When we launched Kaleyra 24 years ago with my co-founder Simone Fubini, I could hardly envision that our voyage would take us from a small Italian start-up to global expansion, a publicly listed NYSE company, and now working together with a great technology leader like Tata Communications.

"This is a great day for Kaleyra and our shareholders, and our employees worldwide.”