ICICI outfit hits pay dirt with Neoforma.com
R Subramanyam
BANGALORE 26 JANUARY
ICICI Ventures, which of late has picked up stakes in companies ranging from clothing (Indus League) to biotechnology (Biocon India) to information technology (Bangalore Labs), has hit pay dirt with one of its earlier investments rising a phenomenal 4,000 per cent in value in less than a year. In February 1999, ICICI Ventures and Trust Company of the West (TCW) had invested $2.4 million in Neoforma.com Inc, a Santa Clara, US-based seller of medical supplies on the Internet.
Following the company?s initial public offering (IPO) earlier this week, its stake is currently worth over $100 million!
The three year old Neoforma.com listed on Nasdaq on January 24. The scrip, which opened at $13 per share, closed at $52. "The TCW and ICICI Venture had invested $2.4 million in Neoforma.com in February 1999 at a price of $1.18 per share," said Mr A J V Jayachander, president, ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Limited.
ICICI Venture manages the $52-million, TCW/ICICI fund which besides Neoforma.com has investments in around eight companies overseas. Neoforma.com is the first among these companies to be listed abroad, and others will soon follow suit, said Mr Jayachander.
"We strongly believe in nurturing cross-border investment relationships. As the investment advisor we have played a leading role in helping Neoforma.com outsource some of its development work from India," he said.
Neoforma.com provides business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce services to the medical supply industry by creating a marketplace where the suppliers of medical equipment and distributors can list and sell products.
It lists medical equipment, surgical instruments, and supplies like syringes and gloves. It also allows customers to bid for used and surplus equipment through online auctions it conducts.
Mr Jayachander said six new funds with a corpus of around Rs 1,000 crore ($222 mil) will be raised this year. The focus areas for investment will be information technology, healthcare and service sectors. Since inception, ICICI Ventures has invested in over 300 companies and exited from around 75, he said.
economictimes.com |
