Thursday, September 8 2005 14:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Bangalore-based manufacturer of non-invasive healthcare equipment Opto Circuits (India) Ltd is in advanced stage of price negotiations to acquire two US companies in US$ 25 million deals, its Chairman and Managing Director Vinod Ramnani said today (Sept 8, 2005).

The two companies are based in Boston and southern California with nearly 170 employees put together; one of them is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and the other is privately-held, Ramnani told reporters in Bangalore.

Company officials said the deals are likely to be to the tune of US$ 12 million each.

"We are in very, very advanced stage of price negotiations", Ramnani said. "I am optimistic that the deals will come through. Price has to be right".

He said the company's Board of Directors is meeting in a couple of weeks to decide on the route to be adopted to raise the money. Global depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds, second public offering and rights issue are the options being looked into in this regard, Ramnani said.

He clarified that the company is not desperate to push through the deals; even through organic growth, the company is poised for a 40-50 per cent growth in the current financial year.

Company officials said once the US firms were acquired, the game plan is to shift the manufacturing activity to India to take advantage of lower costs.

He said OCIL is also pursuing a third acquisition target in the US but gave no details. The company is also planning a joint venture with a US firm, he added. The company is going in for an additional one lakh sq. ft. R & D facility here, its CFO Bodapati Bhaskar said.

Ramnani said the company is in discussion with the Indian Army to sell its fluid warmer product.

Company executives said the product is used during surgeries and blood transfusions, as it helps in maintaining the temperature of blood at 37 degree Celsius (human body temperature) for smooth flow of blood.

It is particularly necessary in cold areas, where the blood becomes thicker resulting in thermal shocks that can often prove fatal for patients, they said.

According to Ramnani, this product sold by OCIL's distributor in the US, has been extensively used by the US Army in Iraq.

A variant of this product has been developed at one-fifth of the original cost sold in the US, for developing countries, he added.

OCIL, meanwhile, unveiled today three new products thermal printer, multi parameter monitor and waveform-enabled pulse oximeter, targeting the lower and middle-end segments.

Bulk of the production would initially go into exports, Bhaskar said.

The company is establishing offices in Europe to sell its range of products, he added.

Bhaskar said the three products would compete in the overseas market not only on the price front but also on the features. The new offerings would find deployment in healthcare centers and technology hubs and would cater to the mass needs, company executives said.