Sonata, to fund these expansion plans, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of the year. This will consist of 25.4 lakh shares and is expected to be priced at a premium of Rs 65 to Rs 80 per share. Besides funding its expansion plans, the IPO is expected to give employees an exit option from their holdings in Sonata. The employees are the second largest shareholders in the company with a 28 per cent stake.

Sonata, which was initially a division of Indian Organic Chemicals, was spun off as a separate subsidiary in 1994. Later, Indian Organics sold off its stake to S Ghia, who at present holds a 32.5 per cent stake, and Rajan Raheja, who has a 27.7 per cent stake in the company. At the same time, an employee welfare trust was created to offer stockoptions to the employees. The company, which started with development of software packages for the domestic market, has now diversified into software distribution and software exports. At present, the international operations make up 40 per cent of the company's turnover of Rs 85.6 crore. "The share of international operations to our revenue has been consistently increasing and it will go up to 50 per cent this year," Sonata Software president and managing director B Ramaswamy told visiting journalists in Bangalore on Friday.

According to him, the company plans to achieve a turnover of Rs 129 crore during the current year, which will rise to Rs 180 crore in 1999-2000 and to Rs 260 crore by 2000-01.