"This tie-up could catalyze our jump into the Rs 1,000-crore mark faster"

Lucknow-based Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd (SCEL), a joint venture
between the South African IT major, Sahara Computers (SCPL), and Sahara India
Pariwar, has signed a MoU for the acquisition of SES Technologies, the Mumbai-based
distribution house. This is a strategic decision for Sahara as the move will
help it expand its penetration significantly in India. SES will also benefit as
it can add more products with the Sahara brand name to its kitty.

PK Krishnaprasad, CEO of SES Technologies talks about the impact this
acquisition will have on SES, which shall continue to trade under its current
name and style.

How do you feel after the acquisition of SES Tech by Sahara Computers and
Electronics (SCEL)?

This is a welcome move. We have great confidence that Sahara will
continuously provide an appropriate environment for my team and myself to grow
SES into a national leader.

What is the status of SES Tech after the takeover?

The development only signifies a change in ownership. The company shall
continue to do trading under the SES Technologies names and style. The
management and the team stays the same, so do the vendors and the branches. The
only change is internal and this is a change in the ownership.

The acquisition is important for Sahara as it allows them to leverage on the
wide range of vendor agencies, infrastructure, skilled and experienced sales and
support staff of SES Tech across the country.

How do you hope to leverage this change?

SES Technologies has distinguished itself as a Value Distribution partner.
The organization has grown over the decade through its strong channel partner
network and strong association with major international vendors, and has
achieved the distinction of being ranked as the fourth largest distributor in
India. The company has a strong strength and network of more than 5,000 channel
partners and continued association with major international vendors.

Sahara Computers has been able to achieve success in all their international
operations. The company had recently entered the Indian market with the launch
of desktops, laptops and servers. It has also announced its foray into the
lifestyle segment leveraging on its international expertise.

For Sahara Computers and Electronics, this acquisition will enhance their
footprint across the country while adding value to the existing presence in the
country today. Together we will be able to meet the ever-increasing needs of our
customers across India. We expect it to help fulfill our vision to provide our
customers with a comprehensive line of products and services.

From a conventional Intel distributor to a multi-vendor distributor, SES
has come a long way. What do you think is the path ahead?

When we started in 1992, we had a dominant Intel distribution business and
this continued for some years. Intel business still occupies about 55% of the
total revenue. We are to bring this down to 35% without affecting the business
volumes. But in recent times, we have been able to expand the business portfolio
and have two divisions-building blocks and value added division.

We firmly believe that the value-added business is surely growing. The market
is looking for value addition in the value products space. One can surely see
great growth in the coming years in this segment in comparison to the building
blocks.

What is the road ahead from here?

The first thing for the new entity is to take an inventory of strengths and
look at complimenting each other's business such that an effective integration
can be forged. At SES Technologies, we are expanding our operations with new
tie-ups in the networking, storage, telecom and peripheral spaces such that our
portfolio is further consolidated and the organization emerges stronger. This
tie-up could catalyze our jump into the Rs 1,000-crore mark faster.

NELSON JOHNY