Zensar acquires US-based e-commerce solutions firm

    Mid-sized software services firm Zensar Technologies on Thursday said it h        as acquired Professional Access, which provides retail e-commerce solutions OR   r an undisclosed amount.

New York-headquartered Professional Access works with many large and mid-sized retailers in the US, UK, Latin America, Middle East and Africa to build and implement their e-commerce strategies.

"The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Zensar to acquire PA. Under the terms of the Agreement, PA will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zensar Technologies. The deal will be financed by a combination of internal accruals and debt," Zensar said in a statement.

With revenues of over USD 38 million, PA is one of the largest Oracle ATG and Endeca partners in the world, the Pune- headquartered firm added.

This acquisition furthers Zensar's mission to strengthen position in the fast growing Oracle e-commerce space by combining Zensar's Oracle EBS, Oracle Retail and Fusion Middleware solutions for global clients, the firm said.

"PA's market leadership in Oracle e-commerce space and its strong management team is strategic to Zensar's plan to increase its market share in the high growth e-commerce space specifically and the MRD segment in general," Zensar Technologies Chairman Harsh Goenka said.

Zensar, an RPG Group company, Vice Chairman and Managing Director Ganesh Natarajan said the firm's track record with large Oracle deployments for Retail and Manufacturing clients will be significantly enhanced by the retail commerce credentials of PA.

PA's founders Babu Venkatesh and Ashu Chahal will continue to manage the firm. Their management team and all their associates based in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR will become a part of Zensar's Global Delivery organisation, the RPG Group firm said.

The financial advisors for this transaction were ICICI Securities and legal advisors were Nishith Desai Associates in India and Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC in the US, it added.

European Union governments ready to expand sanctions if the conflict in Ukraine intensifies

European Union governments warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that they’re ready to expand sanctions if the conflict in Ukraine intensifies.

Citing a “worsening crisis in eastern Ukraine and its humanitarian impact on the civilian population,” EU foreign ministers urged Russia in a joint statement to stop “any form of border hostilities,” including arming pro-Russian separatists, and to pull back its forces from the border.

Illustrating the stakes, Ukraine said its troops attacked an armed convoy that had crossed the border from Russia just as the 28 ministers wound up emergency talks in Brussels yesterday. While Russian officials denied that the incident occurred, U.S. and European stocks tumbled on the news.

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office issued a statement saying he expressed “grave concern” at the reports during a call with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. The U.K. called in the Russian ambassador to explain the reports.

“Russia doesn’t seem to have changed its strategy and is continuing creating instability in eastern Ukraine,” Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans told reporters in Brussels. If Russia sent vehicles into Ukraine and they were attacked, it’s “further proof that Russia continues destabilizing the situation and that is not helpful, to say the least,” he said.

Banana firm Chiquita spurns $611m Brazil takeover bid

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Banana firm Chiquita has rejected a takeover bid by Brazil's Cutrale and Safra groups, saying it was sticking to its plan to merge with European fruit seller Fyffes.

Chiquita said the offer from Brazil was "inadequate" and that it would not hold talks with the groups "at this time".

Fruit juice firm Cutrale and investment bank Safra made a $611m (£363m) bid for US-based Chiquita on Monday.

Anita Dongre has made fashion more affordable

"Right from the day I began way back in 1999, I have always wanted to enable the common Indian woman a stylish designer garment," she says. With her products competitively priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000, Dongre has certainly succeeded in her ambition.