Persistent Systems and IPO: Where from here?

It's been quite a tour de force for a debut. And if financial media bytes are anything to go by, the public issue of Persistent Systems has bagged a whopping subscription of about 93.6 per cent, something which is being tagged as overwhelming with the reference window of the last 26 months.

While many are ready to raise a toast to this OPD (Outsourced Product Development) specialist from Pune, there are questions rising along too. From ‘why did you flinch earlier’ or ‘what made you sure about the timing’ to ‘what would you do with the proceeds’, there’s a lot buzzing around.

And before curiosity kills the cat, we try and get the cat out of bag in this interview with the man of the hour himself – Anand Deshpande, CMD and Founder, Persistent Systems.

Congratulations first on the great IPO show reports. After a decision to not go ahead with an IPO last time, to today with a successful IPO, I am sure life and business would change a lot from here. Does it bother you a bit?

Thanks. Yes. We had planned an IPO some time back but the market conditions didn’t seem right. As to the changes ahead, moving forward, the Quarter-on-Quarter routine would set in for sure. That would be new to us. Also so far we have been managing expectations of employees and customers.

Now shareholders would join that pack too. No concerns though. We have been looking forward to it and preparing for a while. This is going to be real now.

What are the top bright points of a public issue, now that you have done one?

Visibility, a different QoQ radar, availability of shares in the market, potential employee attractiveness, improvement in recruitment tunnel, better customer awareness... that's what I can tell to name a few.

Incidentally, MindTree, that also has a firm foot in product engineering space, had an over-subscription too (around 103 times), in 2007. It also attracted a lot of QIB (Qualified Institutional Buyer) interest, like you did. Would it be right to attribute good market response to the factor that OPD is still a white space, relatively?

It’s a good company. But I can’t dissect too much into it and comment. Talking first of QIBs, yes, they are the sorts who study the company and industry very well. What I can really talk better about is the industry. There, we are in a good market and in a good area.

OPD is going on a road where new versions of software products as well as many disruptive areas are redefining the market. With cloud computing, collaboration, analytics etc there would be some disruptive product development and that would require OPD partners for better, faster and cheaper product development.

So any changes to the business model from here?

Not much. We are in a good market and position as I said. We should do the same rather than change the model. No plans hence for the short-term. Our four main horizontal areas have a lot of potential and we have built more expertise around that.

How do you plan to use this growth capital being raised?

Mainly rupees 128 crore would be raised apart from rupees 40 crore as secondary shares. The first lot has a well defined plan. Rupees 76 crore would be pumped in establishing development facilities and completion of Hinjewadi and Nagpur set-ups. Rupees 20 crore would go for hardware etc, rupees three crore for a SEZ subsidiary and the rest for general corporate reserves and some for issue expenses.

Would a public issue change your appetite for acquisitions? If so, what kind of a menu would tickle it?

Nothing is in the works yet on that front. Being a public company, we would certainly look out for a different set of opportunities. But no plans as of now. Our focus, however, would be on horizontals like Cloud Computing, Analytics, Enterprise Mobility and Collaboration, that is our main play. Verticals would mean, Life Sciences, Telecom etc.

Cloud Computing, as you mentioned, is a disruptive force. What effect would it have on the erstwhile shelf version of software products?

If more people move on Cloud, then no need for desktop versions. They have to sync in with the Cloud. Any add-on to a software product should be sensitive to a cloud environment and tweaked for that, if that’s how the future is going to be.

And what about the new stir called interoperability? What challenges does it bring on product development posts?

That factor is always going to be an issue. Standards are also evolving. So you see a different trend in product development because of interoperability. And with the cloud computing trend, more products will take the interoperable direction, and those that don’t will suffer.

Is localization also impacting OPD in a big way?

The market is changing its shades in China and India etc, when it comes to products designed only for the US markets. So customization and localization will create opportunities in the Indian market and that will create new bright spots for the OPD players.

On a lighter vein, is it too soon to ask about international listing ambitions? Is NASDAQ on your mind already?

No such thing thought so far. But, let’s see.