PCL Mindware, the fastest growing software exports division of PCL, is being converted into a joint venture. The company is planning to rope in a major foreign concern to pick up equal stake in the new venture.
The new outfit will be registered as Mindware Global Ltd without its existing PCL tag . However, PCL will continue to hold 50 per cent stake in it.
As a prelude to the formation of a separate company, PCL has signed up the well-known foreign auditing firm, Ernst and Young, as its auditing agency with the responsibility of separating the books of accounts of Mindware.
Ajit Chakravarti, executive vice-president, PCL Mindware, said, Were in the process of setting up Mindware as an independent entity. Currently, talks are on with two major foreign organisations. We expect to conclude the deal soon.
He refuted the allegation that this was being done mainly to help PCL tide over its massive requirement of capital for clearing the huge backlog of PCs booked by its customers as early as last September.
According to Chakravarti, two major reasons influenced PCL to spin off Mindware into a separate company. Firstly, growth achieved by Mindware in the very first year of operations has convinced us that were well on our way to becoming the flagship company of PCL . Our success in the world market has caught the eyes of global IT companies. Weve been approached by several globally-renowned organisations for joint ventures and collaborations. Secondly, the huge working capital Mindware required for fulfilling its offshore commitments and expansion plans called for substantial investments from PCL.
However, PCL, which is currently occupied in clearing its enormous backlog of PCs.
