Off late a lot of mergers and acquisitions are going on in the IT sector, after a brief big halt sometime back. The latest is a huge investment of an US fund into an Indian co.

The expertise of the Manthan Systems, Bangalore has lured US venture fund Norwest Venture Partners invest a whooping sum of $15 million (Rs.74 Cr) in the company. The Indian company’s asset is its cutting edge analytics solutions for global retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations. The US Company has taken an unspecified equity as per industry sources in the Indian Manthan.

In an official statement released by the Indian IT company, Manthan founder and chief executive Atul Jalan has said, "We plan to use this third (C) round of funding to help retailers gain advantage over competition by unveiling slew of products and exploring acquisitions for leveraging our domain expertise in BI (business intelligence) and analytics." Adding, "As markets face tough times worldwide, retailers are opting for data security by harnessing and profiting from analytics to take faster decisions. While reliance on analytics is an evolving market phenomenon, retailers the world over are taking steps towards securing their aisles."

Manthan had company raised $10 million in 2007 from institutional venture capitalists IDG Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and eplanet Ventures and $15 million in 2009 from Fidelity Ventures and the first round partners. Among Manthan's global clients are McDonald's, Crocs, Ecco, Love's, Ashley Stewart, Teavana, Robinsons, Ripley, Woolworth, SM Retail, Mydin, Abenson, Haggen and GAME Group Plc.  (With inputs from internet: AarKay)