Ybrant set to acquire 2 US mktg firms

Plans to offload around 20% of its equity to fund buyouts

Hyderabad-based Ybrant Technologies, a provider of tools and services for enterprise e-marketing, has signed letters of intent (LoIs) to acquire two companies in the US.

Both the companies have revenues in the range of $5 million and $20 million each. Ybrant is planning to offload around 20 per cent of its equity to raise funds for the acquisitions.

Speaking to Business Standard, Suresh Reddy, chairman of Ybrant Technologies Inc, said, "We want to become an end-to-end service provider instead of just a technology and service provider. We are, therefore, acquiring two marketing companies in the US to bridge the gap." Incidentally, these two companies have been the clients of Ybrant Technologies earlier.

Ybrant designs, develops and implements web-based marketing systems and integrated online marketing solutions. These include bulk e-mailing, search engine marketing, affiliate networking, lead generation, and management and banner advertising.

Since it has to deal with marketing companies instead of the actual clients like Yahoo, Lycos and Capital One, the revenues get shared between marketing companies and vendors like Ybrant.

Therefore, by acquiring marketing companies, Ybrant can get a bigger chunk of the revenues. This apart, it gets the opportunity of cross-selling its tools and services.

Ybrant is in negotiations with external investors to offload its equity for funding the buyouts. "It could be around 20 per cent," Reddy said.

The company currently employs 160 people in Hyderabad and is looking at ramping up the numbers. The privately-held firm will be moving to a new facility in the city shortly.