One97 to raise Rs 120 cr through IPO by Sept

Leading telecom value-added services (VAS) provider One97 Communications plans to raise Rs 120 crore through an initial public offering (IPO) by September, a top company official said.

Of the total proceeds, the company said it would be using around Rs 94 crore in deploying technology and expansion. The rest would be utilised for usual operations.

"With robust growth in the mobile subscriber-base and emerging 3G opportunities in India, there is a tremendous growth potential in the VAS segment. We are planning to raise Rs 120 crore through an IPO and the proceeds would be used in expansion activities, including in overseas markets," One97's Managing Director Vijay Shekhar Sharma told PTI here today.

The company offers products and services to 11 leading telecom operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata Indicom, MTNL, BSNL, Etisalat and Aircel, among others, besides, providing VAS solutions to consumers and enterprises.

It has already filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the marget regulator Sebi and is expecting an approval by next month, Sharma said, adding that IDFC Capital and Avendus Capital are the merchant bankers for the IPO.

One97, that was incorporated in 2001 as a start-up brought its first private equity (PE) investment of Rs 3.6 crore from the Hong Kong-based PE firm SAIF and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in 2007. Its present turnover is around Rs 86 crore.