BUSINESS

Datamatics IPO price band at Rs 101-110

By Priya Ganapati
April 06, 2004 18:11 IST

Datamatics Technologies Limited, a non-voice business process outsourcing company, has announced a price band of Rs 101-110 per share for its initial public offering.

The IPO will be open for subscription between April 12 and April 19. The company is offering 10.3 million equity shares of Rs 5 each for cash at a price to be decided through the book-building route.

Datamatics has been one of the early entrants into the BPO sector and it is part of the Datamatics group, one of the oldest IT services companies in India which is headed by Dr Lalit Kanodia.

Datamatics Technologies is a non-voice BPO company. Its model comprises three key business segments: content management, back office processing and related software services.

"The voice segment is estimated to be around 34 percent of the BPO industry. So except that we are present in the rest of the industry," says Mahesh Zurale, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Datamatics Technologies.

In back office processing, Datamatics looks at specific transaction processing functions like accounting claims, payroll, tax forms or resumes in a customized format. In content management it looks at managing content and delivering it to a targetted audience. For instance, Datamatics does the database management for LexusNexus, one of the biggest content services providers in the United States.

Datamatics, which has two offices in Mumbai and one in Chennai, plans to expand its Chennai facility by 10,000 square feet.

The company plans to use the proceeds of the IPO for its existing business requirements, acquisitions and investment in its subsidiaries.

Datamatics has ear marked Rs 146 million (Rs 14.6 crore) for investments in its subsidiaries and associates. The company has three subsidiaries in the US, Germany and the United Kingdom and investments in these units will be in the form of working capital for the first two and initial capital for the latter.

Datamatics had acquired two companies recently -- Saztec International and CorPay Solutions. It will also be making investments in KnowledgeWorks Global Limited, a joint venture with Cadmus Corporation, in which Datamatics has a 20 per cent stake.

"We have appointed Ernst & Young to scout for more acquisitions. We are looking at firms within the $12-14 million range that will fit in our core focus," says Dr Lalit Kanodia, founder of the Datamatics Group.

Datamatics will list on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. At present, the paid up equity capital of the company is at Rs 160.36 million (Rs 16.04 crore) and this will increase to Rs 202.86 million (Rs 20.29 crore) after the IPO. The issue would represent 25.39 percent of the fully diluted post issue paid up equity capital of the company.

Priya Ganapati

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