Hughes Software Systems (HSS), a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems
and a group company of General Motors-Hughes Electronics of the US, is
planning to go public either through an IPO in India or by getting
itself listed on the Nasdaq.
HSS also proposes to have a formal employees stock option scheme (Esop)
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in India. At present, it has a "phantom Esop scheme" whereby senior
staffers out of the total 700 are given, as incentives, stock which has
notional value.
Sources in the Gurgaon-headquartered HSS said the company has plans to
go public after it gets a "clearance from the parent in the US". They
said that after the initial offer proposal is through, the company will
start working on the Esop scheme "to which HSS is committed even now".
The scheme is expected to be in place by 2003 before which the company
has to go public.
76 per cent equity stake in HSS is held by Hughes Electronics, while 24
per cent shareholding is with venture capital funds. The ISO 9001
company set up shop in India in 1992 with an investment of over Dollar
26 million. HSS sources said it still has not been decided the quantum
that will be offloaded to the public.
HSS' turnover has grown at an average annual rate of over 70 per cent
during its existence period in India and now is a company totally
focussed solely on communications and electronic commerce software. HSS