UST Global on expansion mode

Thiruvananthapuram: UST Global, a US-based IT services company with software development centres in India, is looking at expanding its global operations both organically and through acquisitions.

Over the next year or so, the company plans to start a development centre in Santiago, Chile and is also looking at setting up another centre in Mexico, said Mr Sajan Pillai, CEO, UST Global. It also plans to expand its existing development centres in Malaysia and the Philippines. In India, the company intends to expand its Kochi and Chennai centres, he added.

According to Mr Pillai, the company is looking at acquisitions in Europe and India, especially of companies in the ERP and business intelligence domains. Over the next 12 months, UST Global will probably announce more than one acquisition, he added.

The company has recently launched a stock option programme for its employees, he pointed out. It is also considering a public offering in the US in the last quarter of 2009 or the first quarter of 2010, he added.

UST Global, which currently has over 5,000 employees and revenues of $250 million, expects 50 per cent organic growth this year, Mr Pillai said. However, much of the growth in the company’s workforce over the next 12-14 months will happen outside India, particularly in locations such as South America, he explained.

Responding to a recent media report that the Chandaria family-owned Comcraft Group, which owns UST Global, was planning to sell its stake in the company, Mr Pillai emphasised that no such divestment was on the cards.