Mortice to buy Filipino firm

The group, which commenced its business as Peregrine, providing security services, has now moved up the value chain and has also been rechristened Mortice. It now provides facilities management and security services in India through 15,000 employees and about 500 clients across 19 Indian states.

Declining to name the company or size of the investment being made, Manjit Rajain, an ex-serviceman and Mortice's founder, said, "The Filipino company is presently doing about Peso 4 billion in sales, has 3,200 people and has a large presence in facilities management business and is presently manning major global corporations' IT facilities, we hope to close the deal in two months."

 

In addition to the Filipino acquisition, the company is also looking at building a facilities management business in Vietnam from scratch by employing local people.

"We are doing this in anticipation of the IT and ITeS companies moving from the West and India to low cost centres like Vietnam. Presently, we are working towards it and may be operational by end of this year," he added.

To fund both acquisition and its entry into the Vietnam market, the Mortice Group plans to rely on internal accruals and raise $100 million by listing its shares on the London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.

"Though we are registered in Singapore, we decided to get listed on London's AIM since it is cheaper and quicker. Also, we are getting a higher valuation," said Rajain.

The group has its presence In India through its subsidiary