GTL eyeing buys in US, West Asia

GTL has informed the BSE in the board meeting held on October 5 that its Chairman and Managing Director Manoj G Tirodkar had informed the board that the company has prepared the blueprint of the inorganic growth. Currently, there are three companies in the US, Europe and the Middle East, which are in consideration for the same.

"GTL is a leader in the network services space in India with a revenue base of Rs 980 crore. We believe that the matured markets in the US and Europe have huge growth potential for network and infrastructure maintenance and for roll-out of 3G networks. We can maintain these networks remotely from our network operations centres in India.

The off-shoring of such work will bring in huge cost advantage and boost our bottom line. The acquisitions will give us the requisite knowledge and skill sets to roll out 3G networks. This will help us in winning contracts in India and other emerging markets," said Manoj G Tirodkar.

"The telecom markets in the Middle East and Africa are growing. The company expects a huge roll-out opportunities in network in these markets and the acquisitions will help us increase our market share in these regions," informed Pinakin Gandhi, vice-president, strategic planning and investor relations.

The firm is already in advance stages of talks with companies that strategically fit in the its value-chain and the due diligence process should be completed soon.

If all the three companies are acquired, the revenue addition is expected to be around Rs 800 crore. The customer base of these firms include leading telecom operators of the US, Europe and the Middle East and global technology leaders such as Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola.

The acquisitions will help the firm to become a global leader in network services.