GTL plans acquisitions in US, Middle East and Europe

Our Corporate Bureau
05 October 2006

Mumbai: India's largest Network Services provider GTL Ltd has unveiled its blueprint for growth through the inorganic route. The company is currently considering acquisition plans in the US, Europe and the Middle East and has identified three companies for takeover, said Manoj G Tirodkar, chairman and managing director, in a company statement.

"GTL is a leader in the network services space in India with revenues of around Rs 980 crore. We believe that the matured markets in the US and Europe have huge growth potential for network and infrastructure maintenance and roll out of 3G networks. We can maintain these networks remotely from our network operations centres in India. The offshoring of such work will bring in huge cost advantage and will 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," Tirodkar said.

According to Pinakin Gandhi, VP, strategic planning and investor relations, "The telecom markets in the Middle East and Africa are growing. We are expecting a huge network roll-out opportunities in these markets and the acquisitions will help us to increase our market share in these regions."

The company is in advance stages of talks with three possible acquisition targets that strategically fit GTL's value chain and the due diligence process should be completed soon, the release added.

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

These acquisitions will help the company increase its customer base in the US, Europe and the Middle East and become a global leader in network services. The acquisition would also help GTL strengthen its presence in the network services space through skill acquisition and setting up of advanced technical platforms like 3G.