'We want to be the Uber of staffing': CIEL HR Chairman K Pandiarajan

CIEL HR Services made a strategic investment into Next Leap Career Solutions, which runs Jombay, an HR Tech platform for talent assessment. CIEL HR Services Chairman K Pandiarajan said that 76.33 percent of the company is being acquired currently, and has signed an agreement to acquire a 100 percent equity stake in tranches over a two-year period.

The investment was partly by cash and partly by way of share swap, CIEL said, without disclosing the sum. The deal is valued at Rs 25 - Rs 30 crore, the chairman said.

This comes as the company plans to go for an IPO between July and September 2023 (Q2FY24). Ahead of its planned IPO, Pandiarajan also said CIEL HR will be looking to make two more acquisitions and are in talks, and are also looking to raise private equity of $30 million.

“The two companies which are targeted for acquisition are in the professional staffing domain, where we hope that we'll be able to consummate in the next month or so,” Pandiarajan said. He said they expect to scale the company at least twice as much as the company's promoters would have by themselves.

He said that since Next Leap has angel investment and venture capital, the promoters will continue to have a significant shareholding.

In a statement, CIEL HR said that Jombay's solutions are used by over 500 organisations and over 2 lakh managers go through the company's assessments each year.

The company currently has 74 offices across 50 locations now. As part of the expansion, the company is also giving out the franchise to entrepreneurs as well as the technology to capitalise on the market that is unorganised, Pandiarajan said, adding that they want to be the Uber of staffing.

"This acquisition, in line with our IPO plans, is part of our strategic vision to expand our technology-led offerings in the HR services domain. Moreover, it will complement our existing subsidiary Integrum Solutions operating in the HR technology space and will help us expand our client portfolio in the market. With this acquisition, we penetrate deeper into the market and expand our margins," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR.

Pandiarajan said he was confident the company will emerge as one of the Top 5 workforce and skilling solution companies in India by 2025.

Announcing the company's results for the first half of the year, CIEL said the company saw an 80 percent growth in revenue on a year-on-year basis.