Cash-rich Hinduja TMT eyes acquisitions

Mid-sized Indian software and business service firm Hinduja TMT Ltd plans to spend its cash to grow through acquisition, its chief executive said on Wednesday. K. Thiagarajan, who runs a firm nearly 70 percent controlled by the British Asian Hinduja family, said in an interview that he looked for industry specialisation, new markets and software growth through its acquisitions.
"We have very good acquisition plans. We want to grow inorganically in both IT and IT-enabled services," he said at his office by a busy highway, which sports a "We are hiring" banner.
Thiagarajan moved recently to Bangalore from Mumbai to take charge of the company, which wants to boost business from software, now making up less than a tenth of revenues.
Hours after he said the firm had bid for a key stake in MphasiS BFL Ltd, a significant IT player, MphasiS told the stock exchange that Barings Private Equity, which planned to sell its 35.6 percent stake, was no longer interested in selling.
Apart from $40 million in cash, debt-free Hinduja TMT will raise more by selling its 3.5 percent of Hutchison Max Telecom, a unit in the Indian mobile phone service business of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
"I would definitely like to do at least two more acquisitions this year. I am constantly on the look-out," Thiagarajan said.
Hinduja recently bought the business of a 200-employee-strong call centre in Bangalore to get access to more British and Australian clients.
Thiagarajan said his company looked for strong growth on the back of its centres in the Philippines, Canada and the United States, where more than a third of its 4,500 workers are located.
A new centre was scheduled to be opened in Mauritius next month, while domestic hiring would also be brisk, he said.
"Let us just say we are confident of substantial growth," Thiagarajan said.
The company's shares closed 1.1 percent down at 319 rupees in a weaker Mumbai stock market on Wednesday.
The Hutchison stake was recognised on the company's accounts as a gain from a book transfer in the last fiscal year at about 2.5 billion rupees ($57 million), Thiagarajan said, but the value is estimated to be much higher given mobile valuations.
Hinduja TMT has a cable TV unit which will eventually be separated by a demerger or a listing as it focussed on "people-oriented" services, Thiagarajan said.