2003: The year of India Inc

Sanjeev Nair
19 June 2007

In 2003 Indian companies are estimated to have spent about $650 million on acquisitions

Circa 2003 was the year of Indian companies which instead of seeking investments, as has been the trend for many years, went on a buying spree. According to conservative estimates, the total funds spent by Indian firms' on acquisitions amounted to about $650 million last year and could be much higher. Over 30 Indian companies, including Tata Sons, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra went on a shopping binge abroad. We take a look at some major acquisitions abroad by Indian companies:

Reliance Infocomm Ltd
In one of the most biggest deals of the year, Reliance Infocomm offered to buy US-based Flag Telecom, a bandwidth provider and operator of submarine cable FLAG. Reliance was planning to acquire the transoceanic cable provider for around $211 million in cash, with a price of $97.41 per share.

The acquisition, if materialises, would witness the emergence of Reliance Infocomm as one of the world's largest telephony and services provider as it would be operating its own submarine cable, resulting in it being able to offer prices at competitive prices.

Reliance was planning to acquire Flag Telecom through a special purpose vehicle, Reliance Gateway Net Ltd. The Indian firm had outbid Arizona-based equity research firm Pivotal Private Equity.

Reliance Infocomm, which has emerged the largest code division multiple access-based wireless in local loop, expects the buy to compliment to its existing telephony operations.