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Economic Times

June 16, 2006 – Ybrant technologies, an e-marketing support services and software tools provider, is scouting for two acquisitions in the US.

Negotiations for these are in the advanced stages. These acquisitions are estimated in the region of $30-$35 million and the company hopes to close the deals in the next two months.

Ybrant wants to acquire these companies to offer end-to-end marketing services on the front d. “Till now, we were providing the support services and acting as a back end provider. However, we now want to extend our services to front end as well” Ybrant Technologies Chairman Suresh Reddy told to ET.

Ybrant, formerly USAGreetings.com, expects to raise resources through private equity or venture capital. It has invested up to Rs. 12 crore in the company till date.

The company is planning to expand its operations in India and increase headcount from 170 to 500 this year. It has also taken a building on lease in Hyderabad as part of its expansion plans. It is eyeing a large share of the pie with a market share in the US.

“We have about 140 clients in the US. As part of our roadmap, we will pick companies who want to go in the direction we are headed and get more sales lead,” added Mr. Reddy. Ybrant is looking at driving its business in areas like e-mail, search engines, and other affiliates. Newer formats like rich media with video streaming, blogs, RSS and mobile marketing are also expected to drive e-marketing forward over the next few years.

Currently, the ad spending in the US is estimated at $15 billion and is expected to grow to $2 -$30 billion by 2010 and $120 billion by 2015. the company expects to capitalize on this growing market and is looking to consolidate all its service offerings over the next two years.

About 27% of its business comes from platform software, where it also offers customized platforms for its clients. The search engine business contributes to about 30% of its revenues, said Mr. Reddy.