The Hindu Business Line : Datacraft Asia scouts for acquisition here

Datacraft Asia Ltd, a Singapore-based information technology service and solutions company, is looking at acquisition in India and scouting for companies with capabilities in Microsoft applications, data centre storage and security, according to its CEO, Mr William B.G. Padfield.

It has earmarked around $40 million for potential acquisition, which could be one mid-size company or a couple of smaller ones. It is looking at companies in verticals such as banking and financial services, media and communication, manufacturing and travel and transportation, he told Business Line.

"In the last couple of years valuation of IT companies were stratospheric. But, we still want to do the acquisition to increase our presence in India, get good clients and skilled workforce," he said.

Part of the Johannesburg-based $3-billion Dimension Data Group, Datacraft specialises in customised business solutions and help clients plan, build and support their IT infrastructure. It combines expertise in networking, security, Internet Protocol convergence, data centre storage, Microsoft business applications and contact centre technologies, with skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutions for businesses, said Mr Padfield.

India - largest market

According to Mr Padfield, India remains the single largest market contributing nearly 20 per cent of the company's $480 million revenue for fiscal ended September 2006. Datacraft has around 300 of its own employees in India and another 800 through its implementation partners. The focus in India would be to sustain the growth rate. India continues to enjoy good demand from the enterprise clients and gains traction in the service provider market, he said.

The 10,000th branch of the State Bank of India group was linked to the group's SBI Connect infrastructure during 2006. The balance 4,000 branches are scheduled for completion during the current year. This networking project was one of the largest of its kind in terms of technological complexity, geographical reach (some of the branches were in remote areas) and benefits that will accrue to more than 100 million customers of the SBI group.

Expanding client base

In 2007, the company will set up a dedicated "hunting" team to acquire new high value clients by targeting 1000 Fortune global companies and top 100 local companies. It would target fast growing mid-market segment in partnership with Cisco.

The company will focus on India, China and Japan as key business priorities, the company's annual report said.

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