The Hindu Business Line : Intelligroup to get $10 m from Saif, I-Labs

SB Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) Partners, along with Mr Srini Raju's I-Labs, are set to infuse $10 million (about Rs 45 crore) in Intelligroup, a technology solutions provider, with a large development centre in Hyderabad.

The General Partner of SAIF, Mr Ravi C. Adusumalli, said, "Together we had invested $15 million in Intelligroup. Of this, $10 million was from SAIF and $5 million from Mr Srini Raju. Now we are infusing $5 million each to fuel the company expansion."

Speaking to Business Line during his visit to Hyderabad, Mr Ravi Adusumalli said this was part of the Fund strategy to increase its investment in India. However, the Fund would invest in new areas of manufacturing, BPO, technology and media companies.

"This is because the valuation for Internet technology companies and those in the mobile Internet space has gone up significantly, lately. We are armed with the second Fund of $650 million. Of this, about 20 per cent would be earmarked for India," he explained.

On India success story, Mr Adusumalli said they invested $13 million in Sify and made $50 million.

From 10 per cent in the first Fund of $400 million, the investment in India has gone up to about 20 per cent. This is poised to go up higher to about 35 per cent, when SAIF raises the third fund sometime early next year.

Acquisition plans

"Apart from China and South Korea, India has become a key focus area for SAIF. We have expanded our team in India to cover new areas and soon announce another important announcement in the Media company," he said.

"The VisualSoft and Applabs merger plan fell through. We are now evaluating about six companies for a possible buyout or merger depending upon what works out. We expect to finalise the plans in about couple of months," he said.

VisualSoft has strong balance sheet, good infrastructure and physical assets. We would be able to leverage this to make a good strategic acquisition in the technology space, he said.