Apcom Computers Plans Public Issue Next Year
Chennai-based Apcom Computers Ltd, an independent original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier with exclusive tie-ups with leading manufacturers in the world, is planning for an initial public offering (IPO) next year and is looking at a turnover of Rs 125 crore in the next two years.
Deepak Mirza, director, said that Apcom, which launched the DAX brand of modems in 1999, had seen phenomenal growth. The DAX brand of modems had contributed Rs 17 crore to the company's bottomline of Rs 50 crore in 1999-2000.
The company has a customer base which includes all major infotech (IT) companies such as Digital, Wipro, HCL-HP, Infosys, and Microland. The company currently has in its portfolio internal modems, external modems which are analog, and AMR (audio modem riser) cards. Apcom recently launched cable modems under the DAX brand. According to Mirza, the company was pitching for big growth in this segment in India. The total market for cable modems is expected to go up from almost nothing in the last financial year to almost 1,00,000 units by the end of this year.
Apcom, Mirza said, was hoping to garner a minimum of 15 per cent of this emerging cable modem market with its DAX brand. Traditionally, the company has been in the business of networking, connectivity, and Internet working, but its move to start importing and distributing modems seems to have paid off handsomely.
The company is targetting a turnover of about Rs 40 crore from its DAX brand of modems for the year ending 2000-2001, expecting revenues from the DAX brand to contribute about 135 per cent more.
With the Internet poised to boom in India, the company hopes to benefit by being present in all the segments of the modem market, be it analog, AMR modems or cable modems. The company is also all set to introduce an ISDN modem in the country soon.
With unique marketing strategies such as an AIR (anywhere instant replacement) across the country for any of the DAX products, the company according to Mirza, was hoping that over a period of time a perception is created in the customer's mind about what the DAX offering is all about.
While the company does want to go in for an IPO by March next year, but the issues of mop-up target, promoter's stake dilution are yet to be decided.
As of now, the company is working on the premise of locating a MNC product, offering a value addition on that by loading on some software, offering support surpassing other vendors, all at a price that is very local.