Global PE firm Apax Partners’ fund acquires 52.1% stake in greytHR

Apax Digital Fund II, a private equity fund managed by the global PE firm Apax Partners, has acquired a 52.1% stake in greytHR, a full-suite HRMS provider, through an undisclosed strategic investment.

The investment will allow greytHR to expand its product portfolio with additional strategic HR modules for recruitment and talent management, while also supporting the company’s growth and expansion into new customer segments, according to a statement.

“greytHR enables businesses to save time and money by moving from complex and error-prone manual work to an automated and accurate next-gen solution with a mobile-first interface that delights employees,” said Mark Beith, Partner and Shashwat Shukla, Vice President at Apax Digital, who will join greytHR’s board of directors as part of the transaction.

greytHR marks the third investment by Apax Funds in the Indian software sector, following Azentio and IBS Software, exemplifying the “high-quality tech businesses” Apax aims to support in the country, Anurag Sud, Managing Director at Apax, said.

Apax Digital Fund II, a global fund with its first investment in 2023, has raised $1.957 billion.

The transaction, which involved primary investment and secondary purchases from existing investors and the promoters of greytHR, is expected to close in Q3 2024 subject to customary closing conditions.

“We’re also deeply grateful to MegaDelta and Blume for their support and belief in our vision from the early days of greytHR. As outgoing board members and partners, the spirit of collaboration with Bala, Tarun, Ruchir, Kapel and Karthik is highly appreciated and will be truly missed,” said Girish Rowjee, Co-founder and CEO of greytHR.

“In the next chapter of our journey, we look forward to scaling new heights with the backing of Apax and our continuing shareholders Info Edge and GMO,” he added.

Following the transaction, greytHR will no longer qualify as an associate company of Info Edge (India) Limited, as its shareholding will decrease from 22.7% to 18.71% on a fully diluted and converted basis.

Greytip Software Private Limited, which operates GreytHR, raised Rs 34.5 crore from Infoedge and MegaDelta Capital in October 2019.

greytHR provides over 40 tools for automating HR functions, including payroll, leave, attendance, and performance management, along with an employee self-service portal and mobile app. It claims to serve over 23,000 customers in more than 25 countries.