The additional funds will be used to carry out strategic acquisitions and strengthen existing operations of the company in Canada.
Kavveri Telecom managing director Shivakumar Reddy said the company is keeping its options open on funding routes. "We will actively examine both private equity and debt funding. In fact, at this point of time, we are keen on debt options via term loans," Reddy said.
The company has announced plans to make a few more strategic acquisitions in the year ahead to widen its product portfolio and maximise geographical reach. It has earmarked capex to the tune of Rs 8 crore for the present fiscal, of which Rs 5 crore has been set aside for further product research and development in key telecom verticals, Reddy said.
Bangalore-based Kavveri specialises in supplying antennas and RF (radio frequency) line products for telecom OEMs. The company has tied up contract manufacturing orders worth Rs 200 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal, which it will execute into the fourth quarter of the year.
The company has commenced contract manufacturing for its overseas customers and subsidiaries out of its 150,000-square feet plant at Jigani, 25 km from Bangalore.
Kavveri Telecom runs three manufacturing facilities in Bangalore. Capacity at the Jigani plant is being doubled on an outlay of Rs 15 crore to cater to the surge of new orders.
The company sees a growing market for high-performance, cost-effective antennas which, according to Reddy, helped grow its turnover substantially in 2008.
Consolidated revenues for the year-ending March 31, 2008, tripled to Rs 157.91 crore, rising 195 per cent from Rs 53.57 crore a year earlier. Profit after tax in fiscal 2008 was Rs 12.35 crore from Rs 4.61 crore a year ago.
Revenues from India at Rs 140.72 crore, constituted 89 per cent of revenues in fiscal 2008. In India, 60 per cent of Kavveri's sales by volume were fetched from contracts with Vodafone, while service providers like Idea, BSNL, Reliance Communications and Spice Telecom accounted for the rest.
The company's global customer list includes OEMs and GSM/CDMA operators like Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent, among others. Kavveri also makes antennas for use by the defence sector as well as WiMax-enabled antennas.
Over the past two years, Kavveri Telecom has carried out two acquisitions in Canada to consolidate its Canadian operations. In January last year, it acquired Canadian company DCI Digital Communications, specialising in RF interference products in an all-cash deal of Canadian $1.8 million.
Earlier, in April 2006, it purchased Til-Tek Antennae Inc, a manufacturer of base stations antennas for GSM, CDMA, Wi-Fi and Wi-Max applications for Canadian $2.5 million. Both acquisitions were made through Kavveri Technologies, Kavveri's wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada.
The Canadian operations currently employ 75 people, out of a total employee strength of 230, and contributed $6.5 million to the company's topline in fiscal 2008. Reddy expects this to touch $12 million in fiscal 2009.
