GTL took off Tuesday morning following the announcement of a plan by the company to acquire the Redington Group for $95 million or approximately Rs 450 crore in cash and stock.

The GTL scrip advanced 2.69% to Rs 84 by 10:05 IST, propelled on by the news of the proposed acquisition. By 10:05 IST, GTL notched volumes of over 865,000 shares on BSE. At the same time, the BSE Sensex stood at 3,305.62, down 16.55 points.

The proposal involves GTL acquiring, subject to necessary approvals, the Redington Group comprising Redington India, Redington Pte Ltd, Singapore, and Redington Gulf FZE, Middle East, for a consideration of $$95 million in a cash and stock deal. Out of this, $45 million is payable by stock swap and the balance $50 million in cash.

The Redington Group has a very strong business history with operations spread over countries like India, Singapore, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Nigeria.

The group's operations are focussed on information technology. Its major business divisions are systems, packaged software and services. It has deployed CRM tools, automated its sales force and initiated steps in providing proactive customer support.

The estimated revenues of the Redington Group for the financial year ending 31 March 2003 are over Rs 2,500 crore ($ 525 million), out of which Indian operations are likely to be over Rs 1,400 crore ($285 million). The revenues from its operations based in Singapore are expected to be $160 million and that from the Middle East are expected to be $80 million.

The company said the consolidated revenues of combined entities (GTL + Redington Group) would be over Rs 3,000 crore (approximately $625 million).

For the third quarter ended 31 December 2002, GTL, on a consolidated basis, registered an 18.3% fall in net profit to Rs 19.68 crore on a 12.85% rise in net sales to Rs 156.76 crore (Rs 1.56 billion). During the quarter, GTL added 128 people (2 internationally). The total manpower of the company (including 227 contractual and 136 international) as on 31 December 2002 stood at 2,846 as against 2.718 (including 228 contractual and 134 international) as on 30 September 2002.

GTL had earlier given a guidance of an annual growth of 7.5%-10% in revenues for FY 2002-03. The management of GTL had indicated that the given guidance is a cautious guidance and it has been made considering the difficult environment. However, it was confident that it would achieve its guidance for the year.

BSE code: 500160