Biggest deals in the past 30 days: Thomas Cook to buy 74 pc stake in Ikya

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL), an integrated travel service provider, has acquired a 74 per cent stake in Ikya Human Capital Solutions Pvt Ltd (Ikya), a human resources (HR) staffing solutions company, for approximately Rs 256 crore. This deal will expand TCIL's portfolio of service-related businesses and mark its entry into one of the world's largest HR markets - India.

Ikya, which offers specialised HR services, including search, recruitment and project based hiring, caters to over 500 corporate entities in the country. "Ikya's wide range of HR services and sterling reputation, offer us a wonderful opportunity to extend the bouquet of travel, financial and HR services we offer to corporates across India," says Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, TCIL.

After the acquisition, Ikya would remain a standalone, independently managed entity supervised by TCIL. "The Thomas Cook acquisition of Ikya reinforces the potential for continuing double digit growth in India's services sector and continuing 20 per cent annual growth in the HR solutions industry," says Ankur Pahwa, Partner, Transaction Advisor Services, Ernst & Young.