Eclerx IPO
This could be probably India’s first IPO by a KPO firm. Mumbai-based eClerx Services has filed for an IPO with Indian market regulator SEBI to raise Rs 101 crore ($25.6 million) from the capital market. This involves a fresh issue of shares and an offer for sale from the promoters and one of its investors Burwood Ventures.
eClerx, set up in 2000, provides data analytics and data process management services to the retail, manufacturing and financial services industries. It employs about 1,000 people, and has offices in Mumbai, London and Austin Texas, the US. It plans to set up a new facility at Hinjewadi in Pune with part of the IPO proceeds.
The company also plans to use about $6 million of the capital raised for making acquisitions. It had recently bought out Ingentica Travel Solutions and its subsidiaries, which gave it a presence in the travel and hospitality sector.
eClerx recorded revenues of Rs 86 crore ($21.8 million) in the last financial year ended March 2007, while its profits stood at Rs 40.5 crore. The promoters led by P D Mundhra own about 73 per cent of the company, while Lehman Brothers and Dell Computers own about 3 per cent each, and the rest is held by Burwood Ventures, an investment firm based in Virgin Islands. JM Financial and Edelweiss Capital are the book-running lead managers to the issue.
