Shaking off the emerging global recession Rediff.com, one of the three Nasdaq-listed Indian firms, is marching ahead with its consolidation and expansion plans.

Finding its place secure and enjoying high interest from Indians in the US, Rediff.com - the leading Indian portal - has acquired two American firms: Value Communications Corp. and Abroad Publications.

The company has also increased its equity in the Indian financial portal Apnaloan.com India Pvt. Ltd.

According to Rediff.com’s officials, the acquisition of Illinois-based Value Communications Corp., which has a Web-centered business model focusing on the marketing of international phone services to Indians in the US, would add a new revenue stream, and strengthen its offerings in the consumer space.

Value Communications has a user base of about 45,000 with revenues of over $13 million for the 12-month period ended December 2000.

On the other hand, the New York-based India Abroad Publications - one of the oldest South Asian weekly newspapers serving South Asians abroad - has the potential of diversifying Rediff.com’s interests so it can become a publisher of both print and electronic information.

"This will enable Rediff.com to provide consumers with an unparalleled online-offline experience and advertisers targeting the affluent US-South Asian with a great advertising and direct marketing vehicle," a company official said.

Rediff.com has also entered into an agreement to increase its equity stake in a privately-held Indian financial portal Apnaloan.com, with an option of further increasing its stake to 100 percent over a specified period.

Apanloan.com helps Indians in India chose their consumer loans and credit card providers from the many financial institutions offering services.

Rediff.com believes the investment will help it serve the Indian consumer better, add a new revenue line and strengthen it’s position in the online financial services segment. According to Rediff.com’s officials, the move is to focus on creating a more stable revenue matrix by diversifying its revenue streams across multiple services, markets and businesses.

Banner advertisement constitutes 40 to 50 percent to the total revenue of Rediff.com, while the e-commerce segment offers 25 to 30 percent for the period January-March 2001, over the corresponding period the previous year.

According to company officials, the revenue for the upcoming financial year April 2001-March 2002 is expected to be in the range of $32 million, as the contribution from the acquired firms has the potential to do so.

Revenue from services that consumers pay for is expected to contribute about 50 percent to 55 percent. Gross margins for the upcoming year is expected to be in the range of 42 percent to 44 percent.