UiPath Launches Next-Gen UiPath Automation Cloud To Extend Automation Leadership In Latest Platform Release

* Automation Cloud Robots and new UiPath platform offerings make it easier, faster, and simpler for businesses to digitally evolve

UiPath (NYSE: PATH), a leading enterprise automation software company, today introduced Automation Cloud Robots alongside a wealth of other powerful new capabilities as a part of the UiPath 2022.4 platform release. The new release provides enterprises with an even more comprehensive automation foundation to achieve fast and accurate outcomes. The new SaaS robots—along with added features that simplify how developers create automations, uplevel security and governance, and expand access to automation to Mac—deepen the reach of automation in the enterprise.

“It is clear that automation is the technology of choice for developers who need to rapidly build applications that drive the business forward,” said Ted Kummert, Executive Vice President, Products & Engineering at UiPath. “We are seeing more customers selecting cloud and our customer-focused innovation continues to strengthen our leadership in the automation market. Our Automation Cloud Robots bring customers the full benefit of the cloud as they scale their automation programs. This release also expands use cases for automation professionals and citizen developers alike and provides numerous enterprise-grade performance and security improvements.”

New features now available in the UiPath Platform 2022.4 release include:

Automation Cloud™ Robots: SaaS robots hosted in the UiPath Automation Cloud™ allow customers to deploy unattended robots instantly without IT, resources, or infrastructure. A VM Automation Cloud Robot is a Windows virtual machine created on-demand in Automation Cloud. It provides an unattended robot that can incorporate customers’ software and configurations and will scale as needed. The new Serverless Automation Cloud Robot is part of a ‘ready-when-you-are’ pool of robots that will immediately and securely run selected automation jobs on demand. With simple browser-based access, Windows, Mac, or Linux users can send work to Automation Cloud Robots and immediately execute in Automation Cloud.

Frictionless development: With speedier performance, expanded integration options, and low code tools and templates, this release removes friction and complexity from the development process. Automation professionals can now leverage the power of UiPath Integration Service to quickly develop trigger-based automations; access more than 40 API-based connectors to automate processes involving common applications such as Slack, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Mulesoft, and others; and reduce custom coding to streamline app development with new controls and templates in UiPath Apps. Meanwhile, citizen developers get new, simplified access to AI-powered tools like Forms AI, Document Understanding, and Task Capture to automate more tasks.

Automation access for all: For the first time, Mac users get API and web automation, plus support for UiPath Assistant. Linux robots now support long-running workflows, expanding automations that can run cross-platform. Automation Center of Excellence leaders can preview Automation Launchpad, a new tool which can help them evangelize and scale their program to more users. Users will benefit from a vastly expanded set of ready-to-go automations for a variety of tasks in UiPath Marketplace and Assistant. Finally, developers can create end-user-friendly automations with the UiPath Attended Framework through best practices and development processes for providing an engaging user experience, maximizing automation performance, and simplifying the development process.

Enhanced Security and Compliance: Security and compliance upgrades in 2022.4 include every UiPath service now in scope for SOC 2 and Automation Cloud™ HIPAA attestation to facilitate UiPath cloud solution adoption with confidence. Both user and device access controls are strengthened, with expanded role-based controls for managing users and IT governance for conditional access to ensure only managed devices are used. In addition, every customer’s data is now co-located in a single data center to simplify meeting government and enterprise data sovereignty requirements.

“In the post-pandemic world, enterprises must become more agile and practice enterprise acceleration. Robots have been a welcome and effective tool for developers and business leaders who must create that acceleration,” said Holger Mueller, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. “By making robot usage a cloud offering via Automation Cloud™ Robots, UiPath is providing enterprises an easy way to create and operate bots, democratizing automation even further.”

In addition, UiPath is expanding its monetization offering on its Marketplace by introducing end-to-end business solutions that address business challenges across areas such as accounting, supply chain, manufacturing, insurance and sales. It opens another gateway for UiPath partners and independent vendors to monetize their automation solutions, attract a wider audience, and unveil greater revenue opportunities through UiPath Marketplace. Vendors can take their business further by offering additional implementation and customization services. Initial vendors launching their business solutions on the Marketplace include: AuraPlayer, Base64.ai, DRUID AI, Element Blue, Int4 AG, INVOKE, KTern.AI, Kanverse.ai, and WonderBotz. For more details visit here.

About UiPath

UiPath has a vision to deliver the fully automated enterprise™, one where companies use automation to unlock their greatest potential. UiPath offers an end-to-end platform for automation, combining the leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution with a full suite of capabilities that enable every organization to rapidly scale digital business operations.

CASHe Announces Its Foray Into WealthTech Space With The Acquisition of Sqrrl

CASHe, India’s preferred AI-driven credit-led wellness platform today announced its foray into the wealth management space with the acquisition of Sqrrl, a Gurgaon-based WealthTech platform, in an all-cash deal (Subject to regulatory approvals). The strategic buy-out broadens CASHe’s millennial-focused credit-led product and services suite to now cover their investment and wealth management needs as well. The acquisition further accelerates the company’s strategic vision 3.0 of building a full-stack wellness platform for this cohort of the population. Over 20 million users of CASHe can now access a digitally enabled, mobile-first, byte-sized investing platform that will help them kick-start their investment journey with as little as Rs. 100.

The acquisition comes close on the heels of CASHe raising Rs. 140 crores in equity funding from its Singapore-based holding company TSLC Pte Ltd. The deal will be primarily funded from its surplus capital, reflecting the company’s strong financial position. Over the past year, CASHe has constantly introduced new product offerings in line with increasing consumer demands and has now entered the highly lucrative millennial and GenZ-focused WealthTech space.  

This consolidation brings unique synergies between Sqrrl, India’s first vernacular app in the WealthTech space serving over 5 lakh users across 600 cities, and CASHe, one of India’s fastest growing credit-led wellness platform with over 20 million users and adding a staggering one million new users every month. The strategic acquisition will effectively capture the combinational synergies of both platforms to create a seamlessly embedded industry-first LendTech, InvestTech, and InsureTech platform offering the full gamut of financial services for the digitally native Indians. Post the acquisition, the co-founders of Sqrrl will continue to lead CASHe’s wealth management business.

Mr. V. Raman Kumar, Founder Chairman, CASHe said, “The acquisition of Sqrrl is an important milestone for CASHe’s vision 3.0 roadmap as it sets the stage for the next phase of our growth through our foray into the WealthTech space. By integrating CASHe’s millennial-focused credit-led services with the digital-first wealth and investment management offerings of Sqrrl, we aim to seamlessly fulfill the diverse credit and investment needs of the new-age Indian by offering multi-product access and next-gen financial wellness solutions. With CASHe’s product offerings accessible to over 20 million users in the country and growing rapidly, this acquisition will aid in extending our reach to the next billion young Indians by offering them an all-new byte-sized investing ecosystem covering a much larger geographical footprint.”

Mr. Joginder Rana, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, CASHe said, “This acquisition marks our entry into the WealthTech space. With its byte-sized investment management capability and its vernacular presence, the combined platforms of CASHe and Sqrrl will meet the growing expectations and preferences of its customers not only in major cities but in tier 2 and 3 towns spearheading the rise of a new and robust Young India. Sqrrl has all the ingredients we need to reach customers that are still unaddressed and underserved in India. We will continue to look at strategic investments or acquisitions that can add value to our business that will create a truly inclusive financial wellness ecosystem”.

“Backed by a strong management team with deep industry expertise, Sqrrl has done exceptionally well in a short period to build a holistic, digital-first wealth management platform that advises its users to make smart small ticket investment decisions, without the hassle of tedious paperwork. The combined teams of CASHe and Sqrrl will work to grow the customer base at an exponential pace” he further stated.

Mr. Samant Sikka, Co-founder, Sqrrl said, “We are delighted to join CASHe – a company that brings enormous experience and passion in empowering the GenZ and Millennials to achieve their financial ambitions. We have grown the wealth management business into being a partner of choice for our discerning customers. This move will help the business scale up further by offering Sqrrl’s investment products to CASHe’s massive customer base with just a few clicks. We will continue to focus on our strategy centred around stable and sustainable growth in the wealth management business with the largest footprint of customers and thereby creating a true one-of-a-kind company.”

Established in 2017, Sqrrl is a mobile-first wealth management platform focused on millennials and Gen Zs providing them with unique offerings to invest and grow their earnings without the hassle of tedious paperwork through its multiple savings and investment products. Sqrrl is an investment platform that uses powerful data analytics and automated processes to deliver the best possible investment experience at the lowest possible cost. It provides five different investment options namely, Mutual Fund investing (SIP / Lumpsum), Goal-based investment, Axe Tax (Tax saving plans) Sqrrl Away (round-up investing or micro-investing), and Fixed Deposit. Sqrrl has pioneered round-up investing in India through their Sqrrl Away offering.  The platform serves over 5 lakh users across 20,000 pin codes from more than 600 cities, with over 55% of its users coming from beyond the top 30 cities in India. It allows users to access over 5,000 mutual fund schemes across 28 mutual fund houses. Besides its various B2C offerings, it has also built successful partnerships in the B2B2C space with credible alliances with ICICI Bank, Sakal Money, DCB Bank, and many more underway.

About CASHe

Headquartered in Mumbai, CASHe is an AI-based, mobile-only credit-led financial wellness platform focused on making financial inclusion possible by serving the underserved digital customers in India. The company is driven by its laser focus to unlock opportunities for the millennial and Gen Z population by making financial inclusion and accessibility possible using its cutting-edge algorithms and AI and ML-based credit decisioning model called the Social Loan Quotient (SLQ). Since launch, CASHe has registered over 20 million app downloads on the app store and has disbursed loans of over Rs 4,000 crores to over 4 lakh customers.  CASHe has witnessed stellar growth in FY 21-22 registering record disbursements, new user acquisitions, top-line growth, profitability, and a diversified product offering.  Over the past year, the company has constantly introduced new product offerings in line with increasing consumer demands and has successfully transformed itself into a full-fledged financial services platform that offers its customers credit, investment, insurance, and EMI shopping.

Recykal Is Recognized As A Technology Pioneer 2022 By The World Economic Forum

Recykal, Asia's 1st Circular Economy Marketplace, has been selected as one of the World Economic Forum's "Technology Pioneers 2022". The World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers are early to growth-stage companies worldwide that are involved in innovating solutions to the most pressing issues of the world. Technology Pioneers are the world's top innovators, building our digital fabric and shaping tomorrow's global trends.

With this recognition, Abhay Deshpande, Founder of Recykal, will be invited to participate in World Economic Forum activities, events, and discussions throughout the year. Recykal will also contribute to Forum initiatives over the next two years, working with global leaders to help address key industry and societal issues.

"We are honored to be acknowledged as a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum," said Abhay Deshpande. "Digitizing the waste management sector paves the path for an inclusive, ethical, circular ecosystem and organized employment for waste workers within the informal economy. Recykal is revolutionizing the way waste is perceived globally and envisions a world pursuing and promoting ethical circularity."

While Recykal currently caters to the Indian market, the future goals are to tap into the $100 billion potential that the waste management industry holds. As an integral part of the Technology Pioneers Community, Recykal plans to engage with the public- and private-sector leaders and contribute new solutions to overcome the current crisis and build future resiliency.

Technology Pioneers have been selected based on the community's selection criteria, which include innovation, impact, leadership, and the company's relevance with the World Economic Forum's Platforms.

All info on this year's Technology Pioneers can be found https://widgets.weforum.org/techpioneers-2022/index.html

About Recykal

Recykal is committed to solving one of Asia's most pressing waste management challenges, unlocking a $300Bn opportunity in India alone. It connects waste generators, waste aggregators, and waste recyclers to solve some of the biggest challenges faced by the industry, including demand-supply mismatch and lack of transparency. By deploying a range of digital platforms to deliver sustainability outcomes significantly, Recykal is establishing Asia's first circular economy marketplace. The company, founded in 2015, is headquartered in Hyderabad, India. For more information, visit https://www.recykal.com/.

About World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, and other society leaders to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).

About the Technology Pioneers

The World Economic Forum believes that innovation is critical to the future well-being of society and to driving economic growth. Launched in 2000, the Technology Pioneer community comprises early to growth-stage companies worldwide involved in the design, development, and deployment of new technologies and innovations and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society.

The World Economic Forum provides the Technology Pioneers community with a platform to engage with the public- and private-sector leaders and contribute new solutions to overcome the current crisis and build future resiliency.

Procter & Gamble India Announces New Commitments And Shares Progress On Actions To Strengthen Equality In India

* The commitments were announced at P&G’s #WeSeeEqual summit that saw participation from equality and inclusion advocates and personalities like Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Kunal Khemu, Radhika Piramal, Dr Rukmini Banerji, Soha Ali Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Yami Gautam, Zoya Akhtar among others

Procter & Gamble India today announced new commitments aimed toward advancing Equality & Inclusion across India, at its third annual #WeSeeEqual summit. The event saw participation from distinguished advocates and personalities who came together to discuss the challenges that society faces on equality and inclusion, and how different stakeholders can accelerate progress together.

Built on the theme ‘#Unlearn and #Unleash’, the summit saw P&G India commit to several actions needed to advance progress towards creating an equal and inclusive world: 

P&G India will spend a cumulative total of INR 500 Cr by deliberately working with women-owned and women-led businesses in India from the year 2021 to 2025

Last year, P&G committed to spending a cumulative total of INR 300 Cr by deliberately working with women-owned and women-led businesses in India, from the year 2021 to 2025. With already more than INR 200 Cr invested through this initiative in the first year across India, the company is now elevating this commitment to INR 500 cr by 2025

P&G India will introduce the ‘P&G ReLaunch program’ – to welcome back talented professionals who took a break from the workforce and are looking to restart their careers in STEM roles, with targeted support and development 

This program is part of the company’s commitment to strengthening diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and will focus on people looking to relaunch their careers in IT, Research & Development, and Product Supply

P&G India will improve the accessibility of its brand advertising, including social media content and websites, by making it accessible to people with sight and hearing impairments by 2024 

The company will do this for all new brand advertising across India. This initiative will make P&G brands more inclusive and accessible to all members of our community

P&G India will introduce ‘P&G Shiksha Betiyan Scholarship Program’ to provide financial aid and mentorship to girls wanting to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education 

This program will be introduced across 50+ colleges including technical institutes, undergraduate colleges and post-graduate universities. The program will be aimed at underprivileged girls and will provide them with financial support and mentorship as they pursue STEM education

P&G India will sensitize students pursuing advertising and marketing courses on accurate portrayal and representation of women in advertising

P&G will partner with leading marketing and communication colleges to shape the next generation of marketers and advertisers 

Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, P&G Indian Subcontinent said, “In India, we have made strong progress in driving equality and inclusion inside and outside of P&G by taking deliberate actions that break barriers and tackle biases that hold us back. This year, taking this further, we are announcing bold actions and new commitments and also expanding existing ones which will enable us to play an active role in driving equality and inclusion in society. We will continue to leverage the voice of our company and brands to raise awareness on issues that matter and partner with expert organizations and individuals to address them. We remain steadfast in our commitment to advance equality and inclusion by making meaningful impact for our employees, through our brands and with our partners in our communities”

The company also shared strong progress on commitments made last year as part of the annual #WeSeeEqual summit. In 2021, P&G announced its ‘Share the Care’ parental leave policy, which has introduced greater leave benefits and flexibility for all new parents within the company. P&G also extended its company offered benefits to partners of LGBTQ+ employees. In India, the company has spent more than INR 200 Cr by deliberately working with women-owned and women-led businesses. On its commitment to educate more than 2.5 crore girls on puberty and hygiene by 2024, through its Whisper Menstrual Health and Hygiene program, P&G has already educated more than 1 crore girls. In line with its commitment to drive equality behind the camera and increase diversity in the creative pipeline, in the past year, nearly 40% of P&G’s advertising films were directed by female directors. P&G also entered into a partnership with the NITIE Institute to tackle on-ground, perception-based and opportunity-linked barriers on STEM education. 

The third edition of P&G India #WeSeeEqual Summit engaged business leaders, government officials, and personalities in candid conversations around strategic actions that can be taken to advance equality and inclusion. In addition to global and regional P&G leaders, the Summit also saw the participation of influential personalities and global leaders, including:

Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India 

Dr Prasad Dandekar, Head – Radiation Oncology, HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Founder – Health Professionals for queer Indians  

Kunal Khemu, Actor 

Radhika Piramal, Executive Director and Vice Chairperson, VIP Luggage 

Dr Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham Education Foundation

Soha Ali Khan, Actor 

Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Transwoman, Doctor/Intern, Content creator, Artist, Actor 

Twinkle Khanna, Author, Film Producer, CEO Tweak India

Yami Gautam, Actor

Zoya Akhtar, Filmmaker 

The #WeSeeEqual program demonstrates P&G’s continued commitment to creating a more equal and inclusive world. The actions needed today to shape the minds of the future generations, the challenges and solutions to addressing equality in education and economic opportunities and the importance of building an inclusive workplace were some of the key topics discussed across the various panels throughout the summit. 

About Procter & Gamble: P&G serves consumers in India with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Vicks ®, Ariel®, Tide®, Whisper®, Olay®, Gillette®, Venus®, AmbiPur®, Pampers®, Pantene®, Oral-B®, Head & Shoulders®, Herbal Essences® and Old Spice®. Please visit in.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G India and its brands.

Cygnet Infotech Announces The Launch Of Cygnet Fintech In India

* Cygnet Infotech aggregates its credit underwriting and financial risk assessment solutions under Cygnet Fintech

Cygnet Infotech, a leading technology company with its clients across India, North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, announced grouping of its products and solutions for the Fintech space under the Cygnet Fintech brand. 

SMEs and MSMEs are the major growth engines of economies that rely on banks and financial institutions to help with their funding needs. Banks and financial institutions need solutions to help them navigate through multiple challenges of minimizing lending risks, securing data, streamlining credit operations, and safeguarding their profitability.

To meet such challenges, Cygnet Fintech offers solutions such as Credit Assessment & Decisioning platform which comprises of GST Data Analysis, Bank Statement Analysis, ITR & Financial Statement Analysis, Underwriting Model, Invoice Verification for Trade Finance or Bill Discounting and more. These offerings equip banks, NBFC’s, and other financial institutions with data, financial ratios, and insights for a better credit assessment to reduce risk and turnaround time for credit underwriting decisions. With a rich experience in technology, Cygnet Fintech also assists to digitize lending journeys from onboarding to disbursals.

“Cygnet Fintech is yet another step in the digital transformation of the financial sector. It will empower and enable businesses to take informed financial decisions, automate and simplify financial institutions' customer acquisition process, and manage underwriting services with ease. We envision to build a connected and smart ecosystem that helps businesses reduce data-driven credit risk by providing intelligent insights’’, observed Niraj Hutheesing, Founder and Managing Director of Cygnet Infotech.

Cygnet Fintech will build on Cygnet Infotech’s existing base of customers that use its credit risk assessment and compliance of vendor ecosystem. These solutions will enable credit managers, business heads and product heads make informed decisions to drive sustainable growth. Irrespective of the borrower ticket size, these offerings will help them quickly analyse borrower creditworthiness and digitize the entire lending journey from customer onboarding to loan disbursement for improved customer experience.

MADAME Continues To Grow Post-Pandemic, Plans To Have 185 Exclusive Brand Stores By FY 2023

MADAME, one of India’s biggest western wear fashion brands, has managed to perform well during the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to grow rapidly as the world now returns to normalcy. The company managed to keep its market intact, with some setbacks, during the peak pandemic as it focused on e-commerce. Beginning quarter 3 of 2021, the brand has managed to pick an impressive pace and continues to expand and capture the market.

This can be attributed to the swift and creative decision making from the management. With the change in customer preference as the work-from-home trend became mainstream, MADAME managed to satiate their need by introducing attire which was suitable for the prevailing conditions. Diversifying and catering to the unique needs of Indian customers has been a strong point of the brand since the beginning.

Now the brand has also moved into the space of accessories like handbags and sunglasses. This segment has shown a promising trend in the recent past and MADAME plans to focus on its growth. At the same time, the company has also set a goal to expand its digital footprint, leveraging the e-commerce space, by using digital marketing and influencer marketing. It also launched its exclusive online store, Glamly.com, and is working towards its expansion as well.

“We are very aggressively targeting the expansion of our business and we have already started opening our brand exclusive stores in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Now, the focus is to get 40% business from these Tier 2 and 3 cities, while 60% business comes from metros. To ensure that our customers remain loyal to the brand, we are also providing competitive pricing on our products. While the raw material costs have skyrocketed, we have not increased the prices of our products exponentially. At the same time, our products are prices at least 8% lesser than the other international brands that operate in the Indian market. Our focus is to provide the customer with the best quality, design, and that too at an affordable price,” said Akhil Jain, Executive Director of the Jain Amar Group.

The brand currently boasts of more than 140 points of sales across the country and plans to take it up to 800+by the end of the year. MADAME looks forward to having more than 185 exclusive offline stores by the end of the financial year 2022. The brand is also focusing on sustainable fashion to have a positive environmental impact. It has been launching Eco-wear fashion range every year which includes clothing prepared from a biodegradable cotton-based fabric. “We understand the impact of fast fashion on the environment and have been looking for sustainable solutions like using recycled plastic to manufacture clothes. If we achieve that, it will help us in being more sustainable,” Mr. Jain added.

The brand expects a 38% increase in YoY demand as compared to pre-covid levels. MADAME has been receiving a promising response from the customers at the beginning of the summer season 2022 and it has recently opened new exclusive stores in many cities. The company continues to work on enhancing customer experience and learning and development of its human resource. The company, which debuted in 1993 and opened its first store in 2002, now boasts over 140 unique locations across the country.

LTI-MTCL Merger - Disruptive In Near Term, Value-Accretive In Medium Term

* The boards of L&T Infotech (LTI) and Mindtree (MTCL) have approved a merger scheme of the two companies. The combined entity will be called 'LTI Mindtree Limited' and will have revenues of >USD3.5bn. The merger is expected to be completed in 9-12 months, and till that time, the two companies will continue to operate independently; a steering committee is being constituted to oversee the transition to merger consummation. Debashis Chatterjee, CEO and MD of MTCL, will lead the combined entity, while Sanjay Jalona, CEO and MD of LTI, has resigned from LTI due to personal reasons.

*  Share exchange ratio and promoter holding: Shareholders of MTCL will receive 73 shares of LTI for every 100 shares they own. The promoter (L&T Group) will have a 68.73% stake in the merged entity, LTIMindtree.

* Rationale for amalgamation: The amalgamation will drive synergies for the combined entity: 1) enhance scale for the combined business, enabling LTIMindtree to bid for larger technology deals, and drive a cohesive "go to market" strategy in various geographical markets; 2) help in exploiting the complementary capabilities of both companies, allowing the combined business to consolidate its position in the BFSI; enhance scale in high-growth verticals like high-tech, CPG, retail; and expand into new verticals; 3) enable cross-selling and up-selling opportunities to achieve a higher number of active clients (750+ clients with minimal overlap), cater to a wider customer base and diversify the combined revenue profile with reduced client concentration risks; 4) develop a competitive and cogent business model, leveraging the combined managerial and technical expertise; and 5) enable focus on opportunities for growth in customer and strategic partner relationships (75 unique partnerships) and create value through attention to corporate brand building and stronger implementation capabilities resulting from the amalgamation. Further, the amalgamation is also expected to improve the financial strength of the combined entity by realizing cost efficiencies and synergies, such as optimization of SG&A costs and consolidation of delivery operations (domestic and overseas), overseas entities, and branches. Digital transformation projects require end-to-end capabilities with scale, and the new entity will be able to address it more effectively with complementary capabilities.

*  Deal timeline: The deal closure is expected in 9-12 months, subject to approvals from shareholders and creditors, as well as the NSE, BSE, SEBI and the NCLT.

* Con-call takeaways: 1) Both companies will operate independently till the completion of the merger, and they remain confident of delivering on FY23 business outlook; 2) LTI and MTCL have complementary offerings (LTI is strong in the Temenos practice and MTCL in the salesforce practice), resulting in better cross-selling and up-selling opportunities in BFSI; 3) Management aims to expand the margin profile of the combined entity in medium term with scale and cost synergies benefits after merger; 4) The merger will give access to a larger cash pool, helping the combined entity address white spaces through M&A.

* Our view: The merger has the potential to create greater value for all stakeholders: 1) clients - diversified end-to-end offerings, participation in large contracts and deeper domain expertise; 2) employees - providing better growth opportunities and ability to attract and retain the best talent; 3) partners - broader collaboration opportunities, improved integration solutions, augmented intellectual capital and stronger implementation capabilities; and 4) investors - strong consolidated financial position, profitability improvement with scale benefits in the medium- to long term; however, there is also a potential for near-term business and growth disruption, given risks of employee attrition and the impact on execution and delivery. While a merger between the two entities was always on the cards, management believes that the time seems opportune now as both entities have steady operations, scale and strong leadership in place, and can also avoid potential conflicts with growing scale in existing relationships and prospects. While the proposed amalgamation will be an overhang in the short term due to the leadership transition and risks of some disruptions in operations, we expect it to be positive in the medium- to long term on account of the complementary portfolio of verticals and geographies, synergies through scale, cross-vertical expertise, and talent pool. We have put our TPs for LTI and MTCL, as well as our ratings on the two stocks Under Review, as we assess the short/long-term impact of the proposed merger on earnings (revenue growth and margin profile of the combined entity) and leadership transition.