Speaking to The Financial Express, Indian Software Group (ISG) president PR Shankar Kumar said the one-year old software division will be spun off as a separate company early next year.

The company has earmarked around $20 million for acquiring companies in the US and Europe, said Kumar. The acquisitions will give the company stronger marketing presence in these markets.

ISG offers enterprise-wide solutions including ERP, data warehousing, mining, decision support tools and supply and distribution management.ISG recently made a foray into offering software solutions to the finance sector by entering into an alliance with Midas-Kapiti International, a leading supplier of banking solutions.

To have a country-wide presence, ISG plans to haveoffices in Mumbai and Pune early next year. It already has software development centres at Chennai and Delhi.

Kumar said that ISG will focus on moving projects to India and offer clients the use of software development facilities in various centres across the country.

Nearly 50 per cent of ISG's revenue comes from business within the group, said Kumar. However, in another year's time, the company hopes to source over 90 per cent of business from outside the group.

The division which started with 15 people in early 1998, employs nearly 100 people, said Kumar. The company plans to double manpower strength by middle of next year.

As per the company's business plans, Kumar targets a Rs 100 crore mark by 2002, said Kumar.