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Godrej to float infotech unit

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, Jan. 18

THE Godrej group is taking its software company, Geometric Software Solutions Co Ltd, public with an initial public offer of 3.10 lakh shares at a premium of Rs. 290 per share aggregating Rs. 9.30 crores.

Apart from the IPO, some of the existing venture capital funds are selling a part of their stake at the same premium through an offer for sale which will fetch them Rs. 30 crores. The offer for sale at a Rs. 290 premium includes sale of 6.25 lakh shares by ICICI Venture Funds Management, 1.04 lakh shares by Draper India International and 2.7 lakh shares by Moldflow Mauritius Pty Ltd.

The sum of Rs. 9.3 crores which goes to the company out of the total Rs. 39.30 crores raised through the IPO, will be utilised to establish software development facilities at Pune Tech Park.

Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Geometric Chairman, said that while the company would be run on professional lines, it would continue to be a good part of the Godrej portfolio. The business was part of the Electronic Business Equipment (EBE) division of Godrej & Boy ce Manufacturing Company which was hived off and converted into a deemed company in 1994.

``The software business is completely different from selling soaps and refrigerators. But here is where the future lies,'' Mr. Godrej said.

On the features of Geometric, Mr. Manu Parpia, Managing Director, said the company had been on the high end of the market by concentrating on engineering software.

At the end of 1998-99, projects contributed 57.37 per cent of total income of Rs. 20.5 crores and technologies contributed 30.73 per cent. Revenue flow from the US has been on the rise.

``Since inception, the company has shunned the body-shopping approach. It believes that such an approach goes against its ability to build in-house expertise and team spirit as most of the key personnel are at the customers location,'' the offer document says.

Geometric's growth strategy will focus on enhancing feature recognition technology and intellectual property rights for IT and building and promoting tools as plug-ins to CAD/CAM systems as value added solutions to partners' products.

Pic.: Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Geometric Software Solutions Co Ltd, and Mr. Manu M. Parpia, Managing Director, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday to announce the public issue of the infotech company.