The FidelisWorld Group (“FW”), a Mauritius-‐based private equity fund, has acquired a significant minority stake in Chennai based Technology Frontiers India Pvt. Ltd. (“Techfront”). The capital will be used to grow Techfront’s business globally. This is the second round of private equity funding into the company after Avigo Capital’s investment in 2010.
Techfront is a leading global provider of in-‐stadia activation solutions for the sports, media and entertainment industries. The company has developed proprietary LED-based display products ranging from small indoor and outdoor scoreboards and electronic displays to large video display systems. Techfront has also developed proprietary software and platforms for hardware control and operation as well as for enhanced audience engagement. The company’s products and services help event organizers in generating incremental advertising and sponsorship revenues.
This is the first major investment by FW. The fund is led by Anand S. Krishnan, who has earlier been a Managing Director at JPMorgan in the Americas and Asia.
“There is a dearth of integrated service providers in the global sports and entertainment industry with most vendors providing standalone services for display, sponsorship and fan engagement; with the event manager having to integrate multiple services. Techfront is the only player globally to have integrated technology solutions catering to multiple sports. We are confident that with the strategic support FW brings to the table, we will be able to compete more effectively in the global marketplace,” said M. S. Muralidharan, Managing Director of Techfront.
Commenting on the investment, Anand S. Krishnan said “Over a short period of time Techfront has built a strong clientele in the global sporting industry with its customised products and services. We strongly believe that the company is uniquely positioned to satisfy the technology demand of the sports industry. We are excited to be a part of this story and look forward to working with the Techfront team.”
Anand S. Krishnan will be joining the board of directors of Techfront. Ernst and Young India acted as the buy-side advisor and J. Sagar Associates acted as the legal advisor to FW for this transaction. Lincoln International acted as the sell-side advisor and Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co. acted as the legal advisor to Techfront for this transaction.