V. Rishi Kumar

Hyderabad , June 9

MR Satish K. Sanan is a super investor-entrepreneur who has to his credit nearly 20 acquisitions over the past two decades and has sold two listed companies to make a few hundred million dollars.

He is on the prowl in India to make his recently integrated company Integreo, which comes through the merger of four companies, including the Indian centre based in Hyderabad — Symphony Data, among the top five BPO companies.

The founder chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Integreo, Mr Satish K. Sanan, spoke to Business Line about his plans for India and the possibility of listing the company on the Indian stock market in the next 12-24 months with a float of about $500-plus million. "This plan fits well into our corporate plan to build an India-centric BPO, focussed on healthcare sector, offering global services.''

"Currently, the Hyderabad centre, which we have grown after the acquisition of Symphony Data in 2005, has about 600 people and this we expect to grow to about 2,000 people, including opening another centre in Pune. With the acquisition of HPS Paradigm, we have the advantage of about 800 new resources," he said.

"Before creating a new brand identity of Integreo, STI Knowledge raised $40 million from three venture capitalists including myself. B.V. Cornerstone, Mellon Financials and Westbridge Capital led the first round and parked their funds in the company. Integreo is in the process of further raising $50 million in the second round of funding, which would go into capital expenditure and fuelling other acquisitions. We are in the process of acquiring yet another company in the US and expect to announce it within 30 days," he said.

As a corporate strategy, Integreo has decided to make its operations India-centric, and has drawn up plans for an Indian float which would serve both as a long-term capital raising platform and provide an exit route for strategic investors, Mr Sanan said.

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