Kanbay plans $115 m IPO

WASHINGTON: Kanbay International Inc, one of the leading financial solutions provider has filed with U.S. regulators to raise as much as $115 million in an initial public offering.

The Rosemont, Illinois, company did not say how many shares it plans to float or estimate a price for the IPO shares in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those details are expected in future filings.

The company has operated since 1989 and provides services primarily to credit card issuers, commercial and retail lending institutions, investment management firms and insurance companies.

Its clients include Morgan Stanley, Citigroup affiliate CitiFinancial, ABN-AMRO and Sun Life Financial, Kanbay said.

Kanbay said it has regional offices in eight countries and delivery centers in India, a popular destination among many companies to outsource information technology and customer service jobs.

It plans to use almost half of the proceeds from the offering to build a new delivery center in Hyderabad, India, and expand its Pune, India, delivery center.

"Providing these solutions and processes internally is often more costly and time-consuming than outsourcing these services," Kanbay said. "Consequently, financial institutions are looking externally for solutions that allow them to reduce costs and improve performance."

It may also use proceeds for working capital and other general corporate purposes. According to the offering document, revenues in 2003 reached $107 million, compared with $83 million the previous year.

It has applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "KBAY." UBS Investment Bank; Robert W. Baird & Co. and Janney Montgomery Scott LLC will underwrite the IPO, according to the regulatory filing.

® Reuters