BWI: One97 and SAIF Partners Launch Mobility Initiative to Invest in Early to Growth Stage MVAS Firms in India

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: One97 Communication Pvt. Ltd.
Friday, June 25, 2010 03:08 PM IST (09:38 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology, Telecommunications; Technology
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One97 and SAIF Partners Launch Mobility Initiative to Invest in Early to Growth Stage MVAS Firms in India


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Friday, June 25, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- One97 Communications Limited (One97) today announced the launch of a joint initiative with SAIF Partners (SAIF), its largest institutional investor to invest in seed & early to growth stage companies in the Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) space in India.

With a flexible investment range of USD 500K to 5 million from a total planned allocation of USD 100 million, both One97 and SAIF will invest in companies that leverage mobile as a key service & content delivery medium for mobile consumers and enterprises.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Managing Director of One97 said, "India's telecom market is witnessing an influx of growth in mobile value added services. 3G, BWA and large subscriber base of mobile consumers provides a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to create new, innovative high growth mobile VAS companies that can serve such large mobile subscriber base."

"This underlines the commitment of One97 and SAIF towards enhancing go-to-market opportunities for all the MVAS stakeholders and fast-forwarding their growth. Through our joint initiative, we will not only be able to provide necessary capital but offer our much required support in form of experience, expertise, relationships and resources for these companies," he added.

One97 has successfully used this model and invested in a mobile advertising and analytics space company (Oorja Mobile Services Private Limited) and a remote device management & security service (WaveSecure developed by TenCube Pte Ltd. of Singapore).

Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner, SAIF said, "We are extremely excited to be part of the collaboration with One97. We sincerely believe that One97 and SAIF can add tremendous value to the mobile space and support game changing companies."

The opportunities in the sector are bound to grow with trends like fast penetration of Smartphones, technologies like 3G and mobile phone becoming the go-to-device for entertainment, information and transaction needs across the board. Creation of services is a huge potential growth area, which One97 and SAIF wish to support and grow.

About One97 Communications Ltd.

One97 Communications Limited is India's leading Mobile Value Added Service Company. One97's Innovative mobile content, messaging, commerce services and made-to-order network applications offer new revenue streams to telecom operators. Working closely with service providers and enterprises, it offers customer lifecycle management and mobile marketing to enhance their profitability. Championing speed of delivery, One97 thrives on its widely deployed telecom applications service platform to deliver scalable, flexible and customized services. Funded by Intel Capital (Mauritius) Limited, SAIF and SVB India Capital Partners I, L.P, One97 also invests and incubates new mobile technologies start-ups. For more information about One97 please go to www.one97world.com.

About SAIF

SAIF is a leading Asian Private Equity firm that focuses on early stage and growth oriented investments in financial services, IT, telecom, Internet, media and consumer services sectors. Established in 2001, SAIF currently manages over $4B in assets and has over 100 investments in the region. The firm's portfolio companies benefit from access to SAIF's international network of business relationships, as well as strategic and corporate development support. SAIF's key investments in India include the National Stock Exchange, MakeMyTrip.com, JustDial.com, Sify, IL&FS Investsmart, HomeShop18, Network18, One97, and CSS SlashSupport. Further details on SAIF can be accessed at www.sbaif.com.

"One97 Communications Limited proposes, subject to receipt of requisite approvals, market conditions and other considerations, to make an initial public offer of its equity shares and has filed a draft red herring prospectus ("DRHP") with the Securities and Exchange Board of India ("SEBI"). The DRHP is available on SEBI website at www.sebi.gov.in as well as on the websites of the book running lead managers at www.idfccapital.com and www.avendus.com. Investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and for details relating to the same, see the section titled "Risk Factors" of the aforementioned offer document."


CONTACT DETAILS
Smita Rajan, One97 Communications Limited, +91 9818760154, smita.rajan@one97.net
Nidhi Agarwal, One97 Communications Limited, +91 9810105861, talk2one97@one97.net

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY

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