Calsoft to pick up majority stake in US firm

California Software has signed a letter of intent (LoI) to acquire a majority 51 per cent stake in US-based Informed Decisions Corp (IDC) for a consideration of $ 2 million; one million of which will be made upfront while the remaining payout will be made over a three year period, subject to the meeting of certain performance parameters.

The LoI is to culminate into a final share purchase agreement, once all formalities are complete, following which IDC is to become a subsidiary of Calsoft.

"This is a significant investment for Calsoft, which will help strengthen our education practice in the enterprise solutions group and provide value-added solutions for customers," said S (Sam) Santhosh, managing director and CEO, Calsoft.

The move is expected to add about $3.5 to $4 million to Calsoft's topline in 2005-06, which at the current rate is expected to touch $23 million. The contribution of the education vertical to their gross revenues is expected to treble to 15 per cent in 2005-06 from five per cent contribution to last year's revenues.

IDC focuses on education products for universities and colleges in the US. Its flagship product CASHNet provides cashiering, bill presentiment and collection solutions and currently caters to the tuition payment needs of a million students in 65 institutions. For the year ended June 30, 2005, IDC ended with revenues of $7 million.

"We needed a partner with technical and financial resources to get to the market place who would help leverage the investment that has been made. Also we had aspirations to join the global community," said Dan G Peterson, president and CEO, IDC explaining the rationale behind the sell out.

The present arrangement will see IDC responsible for all front-ended, customer facing activities while Calsoft will make the investments and assist in building more products in the education area. IDC will remain as a brand for the next 3 years, following which a decision would be taken as to whether the brand identity needs to be retained or not.