Mandatory For Rediff And Sify To List In Indian Markets; Cleartrip Eyes IPO
By Nikhil Pahwa - Mon 28 Jan 2008 02:40 AM PST
Rediff (NSDQ: REDF) and Sify are mandated to list in the Indian stock exchanges, reports Reuters; this is primarily because of a government rule that requires that they list locally within three years of reporting profits. Both companies reported profits in the 2006-07 fiscal. Last July, CNBC-TV18 had claimed that Rediff CFO Joy Basu was heading a team evaluating plans for an IPO in India; CEO Ajit Balakrishnan had denied Rediff needed to list for the money; the company, which is currently listed on Nasdaq, hasn’t decided on when to list in India, though it is imminent. Interesting that this has been reported during the earnings season: the Rediff earnings conference call (around 7pm Indian Standard Time), later this evening, should be interesting.
Other Internet co’s planning to list include People Interactive (Shaadi.com), MakeMyTrip. Added to the queue is online travel agent Cleartrip.com: CEO Sandeep Murthy has said that they have a time frame of 12-24 months for listing. Anupam Mittal, CMD of People Interactive, however says that a rush of listings from Internet portals could “erode share prices by as much as 30 percent.”
Update: Confirmed by a Sify spokesperson: “The Government of India has mandated that companies listed overseas and not listed in India will have to list on the Indian market within three years of posting their first year of profitable results. Therefore we will have to list within three years starting from March 07. We will do so at an appropriate time.”
Posted in: Companies, Rediff, Shaadi, Sify, E-commerce, Travel, IPO
