The Hindu Business Line : SoftBank arm buys 14 pc stake in VisualSoft for Rs 35.5 crore

SAIF II Mauritius Company Ltd, an arm of SoftBank, has acquired 27,96,596 shares of VisualSoft Technologies Ltd at Rs 127 per share, amounting to 14 per cent of paid-up equity capital through a private arrangement.

The acquisition, valued at Rs 35.5 crore, was part of the 37-per cent stake the promoters and associates own in the company.

Speaking to Business Line, the Chairman of VisualSoft Technologies, Mr D.V.S. Raju, said: "This is a strategic investment for the company and was concluded today. We have been in talks with several strategic investors lately and this is being seen as right fit. We expect them to help the company expand its services offerings to new regions."

"After I recently stepped out as the Managing Director and decided to play a mentor's role, the entire management has been strengthened. This investment and their role would provide a new direction to the company," he said.

When asked if he planned to offload some more stake, Mr Raju said: "I have not offloaded even a single share nor do I have any plan to do so. Having said that, I cannot say how others think about this."

With SAIF acquiring 14 per cent, an additional 1 per cent acquisition would mean the mandatory requirement for an open offer.

Later, the Chief Financial Officer of VisualSoft, Mr V. Krishnan, said, "With this acquisition, the overall foreign institutional holding (including GDR holding) will go up to about 22 per cent, with 5 per cent owned by Citibank."

Referring to reports about Mr Srini Raju of iLabs being in talks with the promoters of VisualSoft for a possible buyout, the Chairman said, "As of now there is no information about this at all."

The exchange, in order to verify the accuracy of the information, had also written to the company. Responding to this, Mr Krishnan said "we don't have, till now, any intimation from Mr Srini Raju of iLabs regarding the acquisition of shares in the company."

Before the deal, while the Indian promoters and persons acting in concert held about 37.34 per cent of the equity, Indian public had 34.21 per cent, NRIs 2.48 per cent and private corporate bodies 18.38 per cent.

About 65,02,289 shares of VisualSoft were traded today on the NSE. The stock ended the day at Rs 160.55, up from the previous day's close of Rs 155.10

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