Accentia ready to buy 8 firms

Day 3 @ NASSCOM 2008: INDIA LEADERSHIP FORUM

Accentia Technologies, a healthcare receivables cycle management (HRCM) player, has firmed up measures to buy out as many as eight companies this year.

The targeted companies, all players in the healthcare BPO segment, include three foreign and five Indian firms.

Pradeep Viswambharan, CEO, Accentia Technologies, said: "We will be closing three big-ticket overseas acquisitions in the next two months "" one each in Canada, the US and London."

Adding that Accentia will take into its fold the three healthcare firms by March 31 this year, Viswambharan said his company would opt for an all-cash deal to complete the acquisitions.

"We have set aside $11 million for three acquisitions, which we believe would strengthen our presence in the global healthcare BPO operations," he said.

"We have also zeroed in on five smaller companies in India that would add to our strength in the healthcare receivable cycle management space. We would be acquiring one company each in Chennai, Belgaum and Hubli and two players in Hyderabad. The acquisition of these companies, all of which are around 10-years-old, would involve an amount close to Rs 16 crore," Viswambharan added.

First Call India are advisors for all eight acquisitions.

Accentia, a BSE-listed company with headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, has also kicked-off its GDR on the Singapore bourse.

Answering a query on the manpower of the company, Viswambharan said the company employs as many as 2,140 professionals in its offices in Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Mumbai, the US and the UAE.

"We expect to push up the number to 15,000 by 2011," he added. The company, which has seen its turnover touch Rs 130 crore this year, is aiming to touch the Rs 250 crore mark over the next nine months.