Proposed Choice-Locuz merger called off

The proposed merger of IT infrastructure specialist Locuz Enterprise
Solutions, and IT solutions and services provider Choice Solutions has been
called off. Confirming the same, Vijay Wadhi, President, Locuz said, “Before the
announcement of the merger intention, the managements of both organizations had
spent enough time identifying synergies that would emerge from the
products/offerings, geographical coverage, customer base and financials. They
felt it made a fit case for a merger that would create a potential organization
for an IPO in the near future. However, in the subsequent interactions and fact
gathering sessions, we realized that the cultural disparities between both the
organizations were high. Therefore, the boards of both the organizations
reviewed the intended proposal, and amicably decided to call off the merger.”

He further added, “Both Choice and Locuz have been working as strategic
partners since November 2007 and it has worked well, which has prompted us to
continue the same way. Our relationship is strong since there are no competitive
offerings.” he added. Commenting on their future plans, Wadhi said that Locuz
would, in the short run continue to grow organically, and keep their eyes open
for any good opportunities for inorganic growth.

Sharing his thoughts, KV Jagannath, MD and CEO, Choice Solutions said, “We
have officially decided to call off the merger proposal. Given that the two
companies have complimentary solutions in the market we felt that a merger would
be a good option. However, when we sat down to discuss the various procedures of
a likely merger we realized that our planned synergies might not yield desired
results, and therefore decided not to proceed with it. We would continue to work
as strategic partners and further strengthen our current relationship with each
other.”

According to Jagannath, Choice Solutions would keep its option for inorganic
growth open in the future as well. “However we would take the help of an
consultant to understand the synergies between potential partners to enable a
smooth fulfillment of the process,” he added.