Planet One to buy Bangalore Labs

Ashu Kumar in New Delhi

THE Singapore-based Planet One is all set to acquire Bangalore Labs, an Internet infrastructure company in India, at a total consideration of around Rs 13 crore.

The proposal, which involves transfer of 100 per cent equity to Planet One, has recently been cleared by ministry of information technology, department of economic affairs and Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

According to government sources, the company had sought the permission to transfer its entire share capital of 21,65,000 shares held by promoters and other companies, in favour of Planet One for a total consideration of $250,000, which works out to Rs 5.42 per share.

In addition, Bangalore Labs will also transfer 1,73,20,000 cumulative convertible preference shares to the foreign company for total considerations of $2.5 million which works out to Rs 6.78 per share. After the transfer, Bangalore Labs will become the 100 per cent subsidiary of Planet One, added the sources.

When contacted by The Financial Express, Bangalore Labs chief executive officer TG Ramesh said, “Bangalore labs together with Planet One is currently in the process of creating a company based outside India to add to our global interests. The exact details of the deal will be revealed at the appropriate time.”

Bangalore Labs was founded in November 1999 by a team of entrepreneurs to offer services in Internet management and infrastructure solutions. The company is based in Bangalore with offices in Delhi, Mumbai and California, USA. ICICI Ventures Fund Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICICI Limited, had invested $4 million in the startup as cumulative convertible preference shares.

Bangalore Labs was about to go in for a second round of funding to raise around $10 million in May this year but the plan was shelved because of the infotech slowdown. Some of the major clients of Bangalore Labs include GE Capital, Infosys, L&T Information Technology, Hughes Tele.com, Spice Telecom, Hathaway Cable, Skumars.com, Jasubhai Digital and Vysya bank.

Planet One operates in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and United Kingdom through its five subsidiaries: 3D networks, FCS Computer System, Planet PSG, CRM Software and B2B Intelligence.

3D Networks provides telco-class network infrastructure and e-business front office solutions. FCS Computer Systems is a computer telephony integration (CTI) vendor providing real-time, on-line customised solutions for the hospitality and financial industries.

Planet PSG is a professional services and consulting organisation in the areas of enterprise and e-business applications. CRM Software is a solutions provider for CRM and eCRM applications and B2B Intelligence is also a solutions provider for Internet-based business-to-business applications.