Suhas Gopinath, who at 14 earned the distinction of being the world's youngest CEO, is ready to make his next big move: a possible takeover of a Chinese firm and raising $4 million to fuel expansion plans. Gopinath, CEO and president of Globals Inc that he founded in 2000, said the four-year old Shanghai-based firm he is in talks with, is operating in the RFID and IT solutions space, with 50 employees and 150-200 customers.
"We are in discussion. If everything goes well, we hope to conclude the deal by March," the 20-year-old told PTI today.
He said it would either be a merger or an acquisition. The synergy would give Globals a foothold in Chinese, Singapore and Korean markets, he said, adding, employees of the Chinese firm in question have tremendous skills in the multimedia space as well.
Gopinath is also in talks with private equity players and banks to raise $4 million. The company, which currently has a headcount of 600 employees, has plans to build its own facility here housing 800 employees.
The company has opened an R&D and business development centre at Frankfurt in Germany, which he said was the "right hub" as most of his clients cater to European market.
After a young leaders' conference in Pakistan last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz invited him to open an office in Pakistan employing locals, Gopinath said.
He received some threat mails from "islamic organisations" against doing so, and there were visa restrictions too which resulted in the project not taking off so far.
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