Tata's Tejas acquires majority stake in semiconductor firm Saankhya Lab

Tata Group firm Tejas Networks will acquire 64.40 per cent stake in semiconductor firm Saankhya Labs Pvt Ltd for Rs 283.94 crore in an all-cash deal. The initial acquisition of Saankhya shares is expected to close within the next 90 days, Tejas said in a statement.

"Tejas Networks, upon procuring all necessary consents and approvals, also intends to proceed with acquiring the balance 35.60 per cent shares through a merger process or a secondary acquisition," the statement said.

Saankhya was founded in 2007 by technology entrepreneurs with global experience, and has developed a wide range of system and semiconductor products for cellular wireless, broadcast radios and satellite communication ground-terminals, which are deployed by customers in India and in international markets.


Saankhya has 73 international patents (41 granted, 32 filed), and it is building software defined radios (SDR) powered by its own chipsets.

Acquisition of Saankhya is in line with Tata Group's interest to foray in semiconductor business.

"This acquisition shows our continued commitment to expand our wireless product offerings to address the growing market opportunity. Saankhya's products would complement our existing 4G/5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and position us well for the emerging opportunities in the O-RAN and 5G broadcast space," Tejas Networks CEO and MD Sanjay Nayak said.

Saankhya Labs co-founder and CEO Parag Naik said being part of Tejas Networks gives the company a strong platform to scale up the business for wireless products and technologies in India as well as in to international markets.

"Our customers and partners will also benefit from a larger product portfolio and an accelerated road map of our products.

This merger will further Saankhya's founding team's vision to build a world-class technology company from India," Naik said.

One Media 3.0 LLC -- the largest shareholder of Saankhya-- will sell majority of its shareholding in Saankhya, and retain a minority shareholding in Tejas post-merger, the statement said.