eInfochips sets sights on buyouts in India, US

Ahmedabad-based eInfochips, a provider of 'spec-to-silicon-to-system' electronic design services to global technology companies, is planning to take the inorganic growth route during the next financial year.

The company will soon start scouting for two companies in the semi-conductor space to bring more design services under its roof.

eInfochips is targeting companies engaged in two verticals "� mixed signal design and physical design or chip layout "� in India and the US.

"We will be looking at companies having a set-up of 20-50 people specialising in mixed signal design and physical design," said Pratul Shroff, chief executive of eInfochips.

While the financials would be worked out at a later stage, the company is expected to earmark around $2 to $10 million (Rs 8 crore to Rs 40 crore) for the same. The company is yet to take a decision on how to raise the required funds. It is keeping various options open, including a private equity placement, depending on the size of the deals.

"Our vision is to be a complete design services company. We would possibly look at the private equity route if not now then for our future expansion plans," said Shroff.

Having built up its expertise in application-specific integrated circuits/system on chip (ASIC/SoC) design and verification, DSP hardware and algorithms and board, the company has been looking at catering to various design verticals in the recent times. It has just spun off a new entity called ennovate Technologies dealing with software technology, collaboration, healthcare and web applications space.

The move to create a new division, according to Shroff, came about as revenues from its software portfolio had become a strong revenue stream on its own, attracting customers specifically for software solutions.

Raju Bhatt, head of ennovate Technologies, said the new entity would concentrate on developing innovative applications in the fields of business intelligence and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

"We will focus on the manufacturing and finance sectors in the coming months and will subsequently enter the applications space for healthcare," added Bhatt.