Actis, the pan-emerging markets private equity firm, has invested USD40m in AGS Transact Technologies, an ATM outsourcing and payments company based in India.
Founded by entrepreneur Ravi Goyal in 1992, AGS manages a network of 10,000 ATM machines across India for banking clients, as well as supplying specialised equipment and automated solutions for major retailers, petroleum and paint companies.
AGS has installed in excess of 14,000 ATMs for over 70 banks in India.
The number of ATMs in India is forecast to increase from approximately 95,000 in 2012 to at least 200,000 in 2017.
Actis has experience in the payments processing sector, having built Emerging Markets Payments Holdings into a pan-continental payments processing business operating across 40 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
JM Trivedi (pictured), Actis head of South Asia, says: “Actis is delighted to back accomplished entrepreneur Ravi Goyal and AGS, a market leader in ATM outsourced services and Retail Automation Solutions, operating at the forefront of an industry expanding at a tremendous pace. We anticipate a mutually beneficial and prosperous partnership with AGS in building a broader payments processing business in India.”
Goyal adds: “Actis’s injection of additional capital builds upon TPG’s investment in AGS in June 2011. With two large and leading private equity firms backing the company, we are confident we will continue to maintain our leadership position in the market and our strong relationships with our customers which include leading financial institutions such as Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank. In addition, we are excited about our new initiatives in the white labelling and the mobile payments space.”
