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Aptech to pick up 37% stake in US IT firm

Indian computer education and software services firm Aptech Ltd, said on Tuesday, that it will invest about $3.4 million for a 37.5 per cent stake in a US e-learning solutions start-up firm.

Aptech is investing in Silicon Valley-based Turbograd Inc, in which eVentures India, an Internet investment company, has invested $5 million, the company said in a statement.

Turbograd will be renamed Mentorix Technologies, the statement added. Ganesh Natarajan, chief executive officer, Aptech, told a news conference that his firm will set up an offshore development center for Mentorix to develop e-learning course material and software applications and also that it will offer its global marketing network.

eVentures India is a joint venture involving Japan's Softbank, expatriate Indian tycoon P K Mittal and ePartners, which is a subsidiary of media baron Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Neeraj Bhargava, chief executive, eVentures India said that Mentorix which had revenues of $5 million in year 2000 expects to double it this year.

Mentorix provides software solutions to help customers use the Internet for educational needs and hopes to become the world's largest provider of outsourced eLearning solutions, its chief executive officer Maurice Haeems said.

Aptech's shares were down Rs 13.85 (3.2 per cent) at Rs 413 in the afternoon trade, amidst a widespread decline by software stocks. The benchmark index was up 1.04 per cent.

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