Grass Roots Group acquires Mumbai-based Tajonline.com

UK-based Grass Roots Group has announced the acquisition of the Mumbai-based merchandise and corporate gift supplier Tajonline India Pvt Ltd. This latest investment by the performance improvement company gives it ownership of Tajonline.com; an online portal that caters for the needs of Indians based overseas who wish to send gifts to family and friends in their home country. Grass Roots has acquired 90% of the shares in the company with the remaining 10% owned by Charoo Aggarwal, the co-founder of Tajonline.

According to Mr. Stephen Hibberd, Grass Roots Group’s Regional Director in Asia, “With the acquisition of Tajonline, our capabilities in India are strengthened, particularly in the area of reward, recognition and incentive solutions for employees, channels and consumers. Acquisition will continue to be a component of our growth strategy in building capability in India; however we are focused now on combining the existing Grass Roots business with Tajonline to create a single Grass Roots business in India.” Under the new set-up, Ms. Charoo Aggarwal will be assuming the role of Managing Director of Grass Roots India.

Since its entry to India in September 2007, Grass Roots has worked with several industry leaders across sectors to drive business performance improvement through enhancing the behavior of their people. This acquisition is the latest feather in the company’s list of achievements.

Tajonline was among the first companies to enter the e-commerce arena in India and the company has grown from a turnover of INR 12 million in FY2002 to INR 111.5 million in FY2008 entirely through reinvested profits. Supported by a modern technology infrastructure and stringent operational processes, the platform has evolved from its original purpose of serving an overseas consumer market to administering and fulfilling reward and other marketing programs for corporations in the Indian market.

Grass Roots Group Chairman David Evans is enthusiastic about the prospects for this latest venture. “Combining technology with robust process and outstanding people has been the foundation of our success and with Tajonline we found exactly that. It’s an exciting part of the world for us to be operating in and I’m very confident in future growth for Grass Roots India, with a strong team under Stephen Hibberd’s leadership.” Mr. Evans said.

About the Company

Grass Roots India is a part of the Grass Roots Group PLC, an international business improvement services group, with offices all over Europe, Latin America, USA, Middle East and Asia Pacific. The Group had a turnover of £284 million in 2007-08 and has over 2000 clients including 52 of the FTSE 100, 134 of the FT Global 500. The company offers a holistic range of performance improvement products and services for employees, customers and channel partners in the areas of communication, education, measurement, reward & recognition and events.

For further information, please contact:
Ms. Deepali Jetley
At +91 11 43691100