New Delhi: Mobile handset maker Micromax on April 30 said it is looking at raising funds to beef up its war chest for strategic acquisitions and ruled out the possibility of its founders exiting the firm. Reports suggest that the city-based company is looking at raising as much as USD 1 billion from overseas investors, including Japan's SoftBank and Alibaba Group's online financial services firm Ant Financial. While the company confirmed that it is looking to raise funds, it has declined to comment on the timeline or the size of the funding it seeks. "Nobody is exiting. This is the only thing we do.
Founders are absolutely not exiting. This is always a speculation when you bring on a CXO team," said Micromax co-founder Vikas Jain . He added that the four co-founders (Vikas Jain, Rahul Sharma, Rajesh Agarwal and Sumeet Kumar) hold about 80 per cent stake in the company. The remaining 20 per cent is held by TA Associates, Sequoia Capital, Sandstone Capital and Madison India Capital. Asked if any of the other investors were looking at an exit option, said Jain: "From the perspective of conversation with investors, in terms of anyone wanting an exit, the investors have been here for close to five years, we have been given to understand by all of them that they are not looking to exit."
Micromax is looking at beefing up investments in research and development of its products and services as well as invest in start-ups to stay competitive against rivals like Samsung and Xiaomi. Micromax closed 2014-15 fiscal with an estimated revenue of Rs 11,000 crore, growing at about 50 per cent. "In a matter of time, we will decide whether we want to go on market which is an IPO route or the off market. But because we are talking about a lot of strategic acquisitions and mergers happening, obviously we need a war chest bigger than what we have right now.
So, a fund raise activity, yes it is there in the pipeline," said Jain. In 2010, Micromax had filed for a public listing but later shelved its plans citing poor market conditions. Micromax on April 30 also announced its foray into the computing category with its 'Canvas Laptab', priced at Rs 14,999. The Laptab is powered by Intel Atom processor and features Windows 8.1 operating system. It will be available from May 6 through e-Commerce major Amazon. It features a 10.1-inch display, 2GB RAM (expandable upto 32GB), 2MP rear and 2MP front cameras and 2 USB slots.
"This is our entry into PC segment. In next two months, we expect to sell 25,000 units of this device," Jain said. He added that Micromax will introduce 4-5 new models in the Laptab range this fiscal. "We expect this new category to account for 7-8 per cent of our revenue this fiscal," he said adding that the device will soon be manufactured at its plant in Rudrapur.
