Teledata Info acquires 70% stake in Thai Co

By agencies   |   Monday, 12 December 2005, 20:30 IST
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BANGKOK: The Chennai-based Teledata Informatics Ltd has acquired 70 percent stake in the Thailand-based Picnic Marine Company Ltd for $43.18 million, according to K Padmanabhan, Managing Director, Teledata. The remaining 30 percent stake will remain with the Picnic group. The funding would be through internal accruals and GDR (global depository receipt) proceeds, he said. Picnic Marine, a wholly owned subsidiary of the $3-billion Picnic Corporation Public Company Ltd, has 13 gas carriers with the average gross tonnage of the vessels being 1,414 tones. The earning potential of each gas carrier is $2,500-$2,800 a day, Padmanabhan said after signing an agreement with the Picnic Group. Picnic Marine employs about 200 people (mostly marine officers) and its yearly revenue is around $9 million. Following this acquisition, the company's name would be changed to Teledata, mid next year. The company would continue to run the ships and Teledata would support in all its activities, including managing ships. Teledata has been managing five gas carriers of Reliance in India, he said. Padmanabhan said, “The acquisition would help Teledata penetrate markets such as Thailand, China, Korea, Vietnam and Bangladesh where Picnic Marine has a major presence.” In the last two years, Teledata's growth has come through acquisitions, and today's announcement is fourth for Teledata in 2005. The company has acquired Daan Consulting and Vanguard Technologies in the U.S. and Nestol Technologies in Thailand. Previous year, Teledata acquired Bitech International Dubai and Bitech International Singapore, Transworld Information Sytems, U.S. and Insoft Systems, Singapore. The company stated that few more acquisitions are in the pipeline. The acquisitions done last year and this year would enable Teledata to report a turnover of $227.27 million for the current financial year, Padmanabhan added.