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Aftek to get $200 Mn from Seekport sale
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 11 December 2007, 20:30 IST
Mumbai: In a bid to take advantage of high valuations that search-engines like Google, Baidu (China) and Yandex command, Mumbai based Aftek, a business management products provider, plans to divest 24.75 percent stake in search engine Seekport. The company holds the stake through its Munich based wholly owned subsidiary, Arexera Information Technologies (Arexera), reports Business Standard.
Seekport, a Swiss entity, was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange this September. Arexera acquired the 24.75 percent stake to leverage the companys search-related technology and patent intellectual property (IP).
According to an investment banking source, the disinvestment, which is expected to be carried out in phases, is eventually expected to fetch Aftek around $200 million. It will be significant for Aftek since its revenue, as on September 30, 2007 stood at around $24 million and its market capitalization at todays closing price (Rs 83) stands at $181.8 million.
A company source confirmed that the disinvestment will be undertaken in phases. Its a way of compensating shareholders by divesting a ten percent stake initially. The process is on to find an anchor investor, the source added.
Meanwhile, DigiHome Solutions, the home automation service arm of Aftek, is also in talks with Intel Capital for fund infusion. Aftek has a 25 percent stake in DigiHome, which it plans to jack up to 51 percent. DigiHome is expected to provide digital solutions to almost 4,000 flats in financial year 2009, based on its current order book of around $10-11 million, according to the source.
It currently provides solutions to around 240 homes in Pune and Bangalore. Analysts from Networth Stock Broking are bullish on the Aftek stock since it has more than 100 active intellectual properties to its credit. Arexara, for instance, has entered into an agreement with BDT of Germany, under which Arexara will license its search technology, Gingcom, for BDTs new data storage device.
Gingcom is an IT solution that enables organizations to find, restore and use every document created or received via e-mail. For each application sold by BDT, Arexara will be entitled for a royalty of 250.