Four Soft plans IPO to fund expansion
By siliconindia staff writer   |   Friday, 14 November 2003, 20:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Logistics software company Four Soft Pvt (FSL) plans to float an Initial Public Offering of 79.5 lakh shares (of Rs 5 each) at a premium of Rs 20 per share to fund business growth plans, including acquisition of an IT company in US or Asia Pacific in the same business segment. The Hyderabad-based IT company is planning to raise Rs 19.75 crore through an IPO to finance expansion of its existing facilities, set up international marketing networks and acquire an IT company, FSL Managing Director Palem Srikanth told reporters on Thursday. The company has filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in October and hopes to get necessary clearances soon, he added. UTI Venture Fund and APIDC Venture Funds have already invested Rs 7and Rs 1 crore respectively in the equity of the company recently, Srikanth said. The company has posted a turnover of Rs 7.1 crore for the six months ended September 2003 with net profit of Rs 4.2 crore, he said. The net profit and turnover for 2002-03 stood at Rs 7 crore and Rs 3 crore respectively. Elaborating on the company's growth plans, Srikanth said the investment outlay was pegged at Rs 33.90 crore with maximum provision of Rs 24.70 crore for setting up global marketing network and overseas acquisitions. The funds raised through IPO, internal accrual of Rs 6.06 crore and venture funding of Rs 8 crore, would be used for business expansion plans, he said. The company was in the process of appointing an advisor for acquiring a company in the transport and logistics IT solutions business, he added

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