Tejas Network to acquire majority stake in Saankhya Labs

Tata Group's firm Tejas Networks will acquire a 64.40% stake in wireless solutions company Saankhya Labs for Rs 283.94 crore in an all-cash deal. The initial acquisition of Saankhya’s shares is expected to close within the next 90 days.

Saankhya 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.

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

Tejas Networks CEO and MD Sanjay Nayak said, “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. 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.”

Additionally, the Tata Group is looking to set up a $300 million semiconductor manufacturing facility which will be used for outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing and is in talks with various state governments to identify the land.