Sasken to build new campus, double staff

Bangalore-based Sasken Communication Technologies plans to use a part of the proceeds of its initial public offer (IPO) to build a large new campus next to its existing main campus here. This will enable it to virtually double its headcount. This is an indication of the ramping up it sees ahead of itself.

For the new campus, the company is spending Rs 126 crore and has acquired land for Rs 13.37 crore, said Rajiv C Mody, chairman and CEO of the company while spelling out the post-IPO scenario.

The new campus will have a built-up area of about 3.5 lakh sq ft and accommodate labs and works stations and 2,000 people. Presently, the company is operating out of an office space of 4.7 lakh sq ft across Bangalore and Pune which accommodates about 2,300 people.

Mody said Sasken has a 'hybrid' model which involves offering a mix of software products and services complimentary to each other. Services (including network services) and products businesses made up 85.97 per cent and 14.03 per cent respectively of consolidated revenues for FY 2005 which clocked Rs 242 crore, up 45.5 per cent on the previous year.

Commitment to research, filing of patents and protection of inventions are significant to Sasken's business, said Mody.

With a strong intelectual property (IP) base, the company has been able to partner marquee names who also have invested in its equity like Intel, Nortel Networks and Nokia Growth Partners.

As on March 31, 2005, the company has been granted six patents under the USPTO and 27 patent applications are pending in India, US, Europe, Japan and Korea. Among its employees are 522 post graduates and 19 PhDs.

Around 60 per cent of the company's business comes from its top five customers and "if we take the network original equipment manufacturers and the large semiconductor companies, it is about 10 to 12 of them," he added.

The company's IPO opened today and will close on August 17. The public issue is of 50 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium to be decided through the book-built process.

The price band has been fixed at between Rs 230 and Rs 260 per share, resulting in an offer size of Rs 115 to Rs 130 crore.