Date:23/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/23/stories/2005122301770400.htm

Back Four Soft woos overseas techies to fuel expansion

V. Rishi Kumar

Hyderabad , Dec 22

FOUR Soft Ltd, a technology products and services company, plans to expand and wants to hire engineers who are located overseas but are keen to return home.

It expects to support them with an attractive employee stock option plan (ESOP), which would make it a lot more inviting for them since it is incentive-driven.

"The company had earmarked five per cent of its paid-up equity for ESOP and allots them at Rs 5 a share, against the current market price. This is extremely attractive for employees," said Mr Biju S. Nair, Vice-President and Head of Human Resources.

He told Business Line that "out of 520 employees, about 250 are based in India, and we expect to add about 150 people within the next three months. This addition is aimed at creating a unified product following the company's recent acquisition of the UK-based logistics company, DCS."

He added: "We are in the process of finalising plans for a new facility in Hyderabad and this would help the company to operate in one shift. We have plans to roll out an integrated product line developed on J2EE-based Four Soft`s Web-based software and the hybrid system of the UK-based DCS Transportation and Logistics. By the third quarter of 2006, we expect to integrate the products as well as both the companies."

Mr Nair said: "The acquisitions made by the company in Holland, the UK, and Singapore, have brought customers from new regions ."