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Indiainfo.com near to listing decision

BOMBAY: Indiainfo.com, an Internet portal pushed aggressively into the Indian market, will decide in the next few weeks on whether to list on the Nasdaq or domestically, its US-based founder Raj Koneru said.

"We are very close to making a decision whether it is going to be a Nasdaq issue or a local issue," Koneru, chairman of Indiainfo.com Pvt Ltd and founder of US-based Intelligroup Inc, said in an interview with Reuters at the weekend.

"Probably in the next couple of weeks, we'll take a decision. We are actively discussing it right now. We will probably raise $50 to $100 million initially," Koneru said.

Indiainfo.com offers wide content targeting users ranging from investors to cricket-lovers, via a portal network which has made up for a late start with aggressive marketing.

It had page views of about 10 million last month, company officials said.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co recently took a 7.6 percent stake in Indiainfo.com for $11.5 million. "We will receive another $3.5 million from a strategic investor for the sale of a small stake in our firm," Koneru said.

ACQUISITIONS HELP REVENUE

Indiainfo.com is among a host of India-based Internet portals which are eyeing a Nasdaq listing after the sucessful American Depositary Receipts issue of Indian Internet service provider Satyam Infoway Ltd last year.

A few Indian media companies have followed high-flying software firms by listing their shares on local stock exchanges, but there is still no pure Internet company listed in India.

Indiainfo.com and its network of portals are expected to net consolidated revenues of over $12 million (as per US Gaap) in the year ended March 31, 2000, Koneru said. Ten percent of revenue came from e-commerce, and the rest from allied online and web-hosting businesses, advertising and subscriptions, he said.

"We think we'll grow significantly, at least 50 percent if not more every year for the next three years at least," he said.

"I am expecting that in the foreseeable future, we won't see profits. It'll take 2-3 years. We will see nice revenue growth."

Koneru said Indiainfo.com in the last few months had acquired some Web service companies, a local travel agency and content sites.

He said Indiainfo.com was in discussions with state-run Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) to offer a stake to the Internet Service Provider, which also holds a monopoly on overseas telecommunications.

"We are still discussing with VSNL to offer some stake to them. But nothing has been finalised yet," he said. -Reuters