NEW DELHI: Patni Computer Systems, the country's sixth largest software services exporter, said on Wednesday it would announce details of its initial public offering plans by September. "When, how much, and where to list, whether in India and overseas, all that will be decided by September," Satish Joshi, Patni's senior vice-president, told a media briefing.

Privately-held Patni, a more than two-decade old IT services firm in which U.S.-based General Electric Co. holds a nearly 10 percent stake, had revenues of more than $188 million in 2002. It did not disclose earnings figures but said its profit margins matched industry standards. GE accounts for 45 percent of its business, which mainly includes writing software for insurance, banking, finance and manufacturing companies.

Joshi said the IPO was largely driven by the need for greater transparency, which a stock market listing brings, as well as to facilitate an employee stock option plan. He said the company would also continue to look for acquisitions this year and the next.

Fifty-two percent of Patni's business came from fixed-price, long-term contracts that partially shielded it from pricing pressures that India's software industry has faced in the past two years after a slump in global infotech spending, Joshi said.

Patni officials forecast revenue growth in 2003 to be significantly higher than the industry average and at least matching last year's growth of 32 percent.

 © Reuters