UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
20-F
(Mark
One)
[ ] Registration
statement pursuant to Section 12(b) or (g) of the Securities Exchange Act
of
1934
|
[X]
|
Annual
report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of
1934
|
|
[ ]
|
Transition
Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of
1934
|
|
[ ]
|
Shell
Company Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange
Act of 1934
|
|
Date
of event requiring this shell company report. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . .
|
For
the transition period from _____________ to _____________
REDIFF.COM
INDIA LIMITED
(Exact
name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Not
Applicable
(Translation
of Registrant’s name into English)
Republic
of India
(Jurisdiction
of incorporation or organization)
Mahalaxmi
Engineering Estate
1st
Floor, L. J. First Cross Road
Mahim
(West)
Mumbai
- 400016, India
+91-22-2444-9144
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Securities
registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the
Act:
Title
of Each Class
|
Name
of Each Exchange on Which Registered
|
None
|
Not
Applicable
|
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
American
Depositary Shares,
each
represented by one-half of one equity share, par value Rs.5 per
share.
(Title
of Class)
Securities
for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to
Section
15(d) of the Act:
Not
Applicable
(Title
of Class)
Indicate
the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or
common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report:
14,603,800 equity shares.
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined
in
Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933.
If
this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if
the
registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to
be
filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the
preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements
for
the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated
filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check
one):
|
Large
accelerated filer [ ] |
Accelerated
filer [X]
|
Non-accelerated
filer [ ]
|
Indicate
by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to
follow.
If
this is an annual report, indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
CROSS
REFERENCE SHEET
|
1
|
CURRENCY
OF PRESENTATION AND CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS
|
3
|
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
|
4
|
EXCHANGE
RATES
|
5
|
SELECTED
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
|
6
|
RISK
FACTORS
|
8
|
BUSINESS
|
25
|
MANAGEMENT’S
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF
OPERATIONS
|
42
|
MANAGEMENT
|
53
|
RELATED
PARTY TRANSACTIONS
|
62
|
EXCHANGE
CONTROLS
|
63
|
TRADING
MARKET
|
66
|
RESTRICTION
ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF INDIAN SECURITIES
|
67
|
PRINCIPAL
SHAREHOLDERS
|
71
|
TAXATION
|
73
|
USE
OF PROCEEDS
|
79
|
CONTROLS
AND PROCEDURES
|
80
|
PRINCIPAL
ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
|
81
|
PRESENTATION
OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION
|
82
|
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
|
83
|
EXHIBIT
INDEX
|
89
|
INDEX
TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
F-1
|
CROSS
REFERENCE SHEET
PART
I
Item
1.
|
Identity
of Directors, Senior Management and
Advisers
|
Item
2.
|
Offer
Statistics and Expected Timetable
|
|
See
“Exchange Rates”, “Risk Factors” and “Selected Consolidated Financial
Data”.
|
|
See
“Business”, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations” and “Additional
Information”.
|
Item
4A.
|
Unresolved
Staff Comments
|
Item
5.
|
Operating
and Financial Review and Prospects
|
|
See
“Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of
Operations”.
|
Item
6.
|
Directors,
Senior Management and Employees
|
Item
7.
|
Major
Shareholders and Related Party
Transactions
|
|
See
“Principal Shareholders” and “Related Party
Transactions”.
|
Item
8.
|
Financial
Information
|
See
the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, U.S. GAAP
Consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for Rediff.com India
Limited for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and the
related
three-year period ended March 31, 2007. Also see “Business – Legal Proceedings”
and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations”.
Item
9.
|
The
Offer and Listing
|
Item
10.
|
Additional
Information
|
See
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations – Acquisitions and Divestments – Value Communications Corporation”,
“Exchange Controls”, “Restriction on Foreign Ownership of Indian Securities”,
“Taxation” and “Additional Information”.
Item
11.
|
Quantitative
and Qualitative Disclosures About Market
Risk
|
|
See
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations – Market Risks”.
|
Item
12.
|
Description
of Securities Other than Equity
Securities
|
|
Not
applicable.
|
|
|
PART
II
|
|
|
|
Item
13.
|
Defaults,
Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies
|
|
|
|
Not
applicable.
|
|
|
Item
14.
|
Material
Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of
Proceeds
|
|
|
|
See
“Use of Proceeds”.
|
|
|
Item
15.
|
Controls
and Procedures
|
|
|
|
See
“Controls and Procedures”.
|
|
|
Item
16A.
|
Independent
Audit Committee Financial Expert
|
|
|
|
See
“Management”.
|
|
|
Item
16B.
|
Code
of Ethics
|
|
|
|
See
“Management”.
|
|
|
Item
16C.
|
Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
|
|
|
|
See
“Principal Accountant Fees and Services”.
|
|
|
Item
16D.
|
Exemptions
from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees
|
|
|
|
Not
applicable.
|
|
|
Item
16E.
|
Purchases
of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated
Purchasers
|
|
|
|
Not
applicable.
|
|
|
PART
III
|
|
|
|
Item
17.
|
Financial
Statements
|
|
|
|
Not
applicable.
|
|
|
Item
18.
|
Financial
Statements
|
|
|
|
See
the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm,
U.S. GAAP
Consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for Rediff.com
India Limited and its consolidated subsidiaries for the fiscal
years ended
March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and the related three-year period
ended
March 31, 2007.
|
|
|
Item
19.
|
Exhibits
|
|
|
|
|
CURRENCY
OF PRESENTATION AND CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS
In
this annual report, all references to “we”, “our”, “us”, “Rediff”, “Rediff.com”
and the “Company”, unless otherwise relevant to the context, are to Rediff.com
India Limited, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the
Republic of India, and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to “U.S.” or
the “United States” are to the United States of America, its territories and its
possessions. References to “India” are to the Republic of India.
In
this annual report, references to
“$” or “US$” or “dollars” or “U.S. dollars” are to the legal currency of the
United States and references to “Rs.” or “Rupees” or “Indian Rupees” are to the
legal currency of India. Our financial statements are prepared in Indian
Rupees
and presented in U.S. dollars except in case of our U.S. subsidiaries which
are
prepared in U.S. dollars. Our financial statements are prepared in accordance
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America
(“U.S. GAAP”). References to a particular “fiscal” or “financial” year are to
Rediff’s fiscal year ended March 31 of such year.
Although
we have presented Indian Rupee amounts in this annual report in U.S. dollars,
this does not mean that the Indian Rupee amounts referred to have been, or
could
be, converted into dollars at any particular rate, the rates stated below
in the
section of this annual report entitled “Exchange Rates”, or at all. Except as
otherwise stated in this annual report and for the information derived from
our
financial statements included in this annual report, all translations from
Indian Rupees to U.S. dollars contained in this annual report are based on
the
noon buying rate, in the City of New York, on March 31, 2007, for cable
transfers in Indian Rupees as certified for customs purposes by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, which was Rs.43.10 to US$1.00. The reporting currency
for the financial statements is the U.S. dollar and the translation from
Indian
Rupees to U.S. dollars have been performed using rates specified by the Reserve
Bank of India.
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
We
have included statements in this annual report which contain words or phrases
such as “may”, “will”, “aim”, “will likely result”, “believe”, “expect”, “will
continue”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “plan”, “contemplate”, “seek to”,
“future”, “objective”, “goal”, “project”, “should”, “will pursue” and similar
expressions or variations of such expressions, that are “forward-looking
statements”, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
and
reflect our current expectations. We have made forward-looking statements
with
respect to the following, among others:
·
|
our
goals and strategies;
|
·
|
our
recently acquired businesses and other acquisitions, investments
and
divestments;
|
·
|
the
importance and expected growth of Internet technology, including
sales of
personal computers and mobile
phones;
|
·
|
the
pace of change in the Internet
market;
|
·
|
the
demand for Internet services; and
|
·
|
advertising
demand and revenues.
|
Actual
results may differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking
statements due to certain risks or uncertainties associated with our
expectations with respect to, but not limited to, our ability to successfully
implement our strategy, our ability to successfully integrate the businesses
we
have acquired with our business, demand for e-commerce and changes in the
Internet marketplace, technological changes, investment income, cash flow
projections and our exposure to market risks. By their nature, certain of
the
market risk disclosures are only estimates and could be materially different
from what actually occur in the future. As a result, actual future gains,
losses
or impact on net interest income could materially differ from those that
have
been estimated.
In
addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this
document include, but are not limited to, general economic and political
conditions in India and the United States, changes in the value of the Rupee,
foreign currency exchange rates, equity prices or other rates or prices,
and the
level of Internet penetration in India and globally, changes in domestic
and
foreign laws, regulations and taxes, changes in competition, and other factors
beyond our control. For further discussion on the factors that could cause
actual results to differ, see the discussion under “Risk Factors” and
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” contained in this annual report. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s
analysis only as of the date hereof. In addition, readers should review the
other information contained in this annual report and in our periodic reports
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), from time to
time. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to
reflect
events or circumstances after the date hereof.
EXCHANGE
RATES
Fluctuations
in the exchange rate between the Indian Rupee and the U.S. dollar may affect
the
market price of our American Depositary Shares (the “ADSs”),
which trade on the NASDAQ Global Market. Such fluctuations will also
affect the U.S. dollar conversion by our depositary for the ADSs, Citibank,
N.A., (the “Depositary”), of any cash dividends paid in Indian Rupees on our
equity shares represented by the ADSs.
The
following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain information
concerning the exchange rates between Indian Rupees and U.S. dollars based
on
the noon buying rate in the City of New York for cable transfers in Rupees
as
certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York:
Fiscal
Year Ended March 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Rs.)
|
|
|
2003
|
|
47.53
|
|
48.36
|
|
49.07
|
|
47.53
|
2004
|
|
43.40
|
|
45.78
|
|
47.46
|
|
43.40
|
2005
|
|
43.62
|
|
44.87
|
|
46.45
|
|
43.27
|
2006
|
|
44.48
|
|
44.21
|
|
46.26
|
|
43.05
|
2007
|
|
43.10
|
|
45.06
|
|
46.83
|
|
42.78
|
The
following table sets forth the high and low exchange rates for the previous
six
months and are based on the average of the noon buying rate in the City of
New
York on the last business day of each month during the period for cable
transfers in Indian Rupees as certified for customs purposes by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York:
Month
|
|
|
|
|
(Rs.)
|
March
2007
|
44.43
|
|
42.78
|
April
2007
|
43.05
|
|
40.56
|
May
2007
|
41.04
|
|
40.14
|
June
2007
|
40.90
|
|
40.27
|
July
2007
|
40.42
|
|
40.12
|
August
2007
|
41.15
|
|
40.25
|
|
40.81
|
|
39.81
|
On
September 21, 2007, the noon buying rate in the City of New York was Rs.39.84
to
US$1.00.
(1)
|
The
noon buying rate at each period end and the average rate for each
period
differed from the exchange rates used in the preparation of our
financial
statements.
|
(2)
|
Represents
the average of the noon buying rate on the last day of each month
during
the period.
|
SELECTED
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
Our
consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars and prepared
in
accordance with U.S. GAAP. The selected balance sheet data set forth below
as of
March 31, 2006 and 2007 and the selected statement of operations data for
the
fiscal years ended March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007 has been derived from our
audited financial statements presented elsewhere in this annual report and
which
have been audited by Deloitte Haskins & Sells, an independent registered
public accounting firm. The selected balance sheet data set forth below as
of
March 31, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and the selected statement of operations data
for
the fiscal years ended March 31, 2003 and 2004 are derived from U.S. GAAP
financial statements which are not included in this annual report.*
|
Fiscal
Years Ended March 31, -
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(in
US$ thousands, except per share data)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Statement
of Operations data:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
US$8,572
|
|
US$9,446
|
|
US$12,627
|
|
US$18,701
|
|
US$28,676
|
Cost
of revenues
|
5,560
|
|
4,738
|
|
5,113
|
|
5,039
|
|
5,416
|
Operating
expenses
|
14,903
|
|
7,927
|
|
9,227
|
|
12,683
|
|
20,195
|
(Loss)/
Income from continuing operations
|
(12,177)
|
|
(3,349)
|
|
(1,220)
|
|
1,213
|
|
3,065
|
(Loss)/
Income from discontinued
operations
|
(6,804)
|
|
(2,371)
|
|
(208)
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
Net
(loss)/ income
|
US$(18,981)
|
|
US$(5,720)
|
|
US$(1,428)
|
|
US$1,213
|
|
US$6,963
|
(Loss)/
Earnings per Equity Share
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(from
continuing operations) –
basic
|
US$(0.95)
|
|
US$(0.26)
|
|
US$(0.10)
|
|
US$0.089
|
|
US$0.48
|
(from
discontinued operations)
– basic
|
US$(0.53)
|
|
US$(0.19)
|
|
US$(0.01)
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
(Loss)/
Earnings per Equity Share – basic
|
US$(1.48)
|
|
US$(0.45)
|
|
US$(0.11)
|
|
US$0.089
|
|
US$0.48
|
(Loss)/
Earnings per Equity Share
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(from
continuing operations) –
diluted
|
US$(0.95)
|
|
US$(0.26)
|
|
US$(0.10)
|
|
US$0.088
|
|
US$0.47
|
(from
discontinued operations)
– diluted
|
US$(0.53)
|
|
US$(0.19)
|
|
US$(0.01)
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
(Loss)
Earnings per Equity Share – diluted
|
US$(1.48)
|
|
US$(0.45)
|
|
US$(0.11)
|
|
US$0.088
|
|
US$0.47
|
Weighted
average number of equity shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Basic
|
12,795
|
|
12,800
|
|
12,850
|
|
13,487
|
|
14,543
|
-
Diluted
|
12,795
|
|
12,800
|
|
12,850
|
|
13,764
|
|
14,924
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(in
US$ thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
Sheet Data:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
US$14,384
|
|
US$11,639
|
|
US$10,069
|
|
US$53,094
|
|
US$53,546
|
Current
assets
|
18,015
|
|
15,293
|
|
15,323
|
|
60,652
|
|
65,851
|
Current
liabilities
|
4,777
|
|
3,825
|
|
5,878
|
|
7,239
|
|
8,933
|
Total
assets
|
30,332
|
|
24,868
|
|
25,690
|
|
74,110
|
|
86,493
|
Total
shareholders’ equity
|
25,541
|
|
21,027
|
|
19,797
|
|
66,870
|
|
77,223
|
*
|
The
selected financial data set forth above should be read in conjunction
with
Item 5. “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and the financial
statements and the notes to those statements included elsewhere
in this
annual report.
|
RISK
FACTORS
An
investment in our ADSs involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully
consider the following information about risks, together with the other
information contained in this annual report on Form 20-F, including our
consolidated financial statements and related notes, before you decide to
buy
our ADSs. If any of the circumstances or events described below actually
arises
or occurs, our business, results of operations and financial condition would
likely suffer. In any such case, the market price of our ADSs could decline,
and
you may lose all or part of your investment. This annual report also contains
forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties. Our actual
results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking
statements as a result of many factors, including the risks faced by us
described below and elsewhere in this annual report.
Risks
Related to our Business
Pending
and potential litigation against us could have a material adverse effect
on our
business and operating results and lower the market price of our
ADSs.
RCC
Complaint
On
June 21, 2000, we and our directors and others (including Ajit Balakrishnan,
Arun Nanda, Abhay Havaldar, Sunil Phatarphekar, Charles Robert Kaye and Tony
Janz) were named as defendants in a criminal complaint (RCC Complaint Number
76
of 2000, the “RCC Complaint”), filed by Mr. Abinav Bhatt, a 22-year-old student,
before the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Pune, India, alleging commission
of
an offense under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, as amended,
or IPC,
for distributing, publicly exhibiting and putting into circulation obscene,
pornographic and objectionable material. The Complaint alleged that we, through
our website “www.rediff.com”, provided a search facility that enabled Internet
users to view pornographic, objectionable and obscene material. On November
27,
2000, the Judicial Magistrate passed an order in the RCC Complaint holding
that
a prima facie case under Section 292 of the IPC had been made out against
us and
directed commencement of criminal proceedings against all the defendants.
A
criminal writ petition, or Writ Petition, was filed in the High Court of
Mumbai
(Criminal Writ Petition Number 1754 of 2000) seeking, among other things,
relief
setting aside of the order of the Judicial Magistrate. The High Court of
Mumbai
in its order dated December 20, 2000, while granting ad-interim relief to
the
petitioners in the Writ Petition, stayed the order of the Judicial Magistrate
pending final disposal of the Writ Petition. The Writ Petition has been admitted
by the High Court of Mumbai. In the event that we are unsuccessful in our
defense, we and our directors may face both criminal penalties and monetary
fines.
IMI
Complaint
A
complaint was filed by the Indian Music Industry (“IMI”), a society representing
various music companies in Magistrate’s Court India against three of our
directors. The complaint alleges that by providing links to MP3 sites through
its directory we have been guilty of violating Section 51 of the Indian
Copyright Act 1957. The complaint alleges that the MP3 sites to which links
were
provided permitted downloading of music, which had not been authorized to
be so
downloaded by copyright owners who are members of IMI. Our directors are
named
as parties to the lawsuit because, according to the complaint, the directors
are
in charge of our affairs and are hence deemed to be guilty of committing
the
offense. Our directors have presently been exempted from personal appearance.
Our directors filed an application for discharge of the complaint before
the
Magistrate. The application is pending hearing. Although our directors believe
they have valid defenses, if they are unsuccessful after exhausting all legal
remedies, our directors could face both criminal penalties and monetary
fines.
All
of the foregoing actions require management time and cost. In addition, we
can
give no assurances that we will be successful in our defense of such actions.
If
any of our directors are subject to criminal penalties, we may be deprived
of
their services as directors.
Super
Cassette Industries Complaint
A
complaint was filed by Super Cassettes Industries Limited (“SCIL”), a producer
and publisher of sound recordings and audio visual songs in India, against
us
and our Chairman/Chief Executive Officer as well as Ram Gopal Verma Films
Private Limited, in the High Court of Delhi (Suit No. C.S. (O.S.) 736 of
2007).
The complaint alleges violations of the Indian Copyright Law of 1957 through
our
placement on our website of video clips of certain songs from two Hindi films
(Nishabd and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd). Pursuant to an
assignment,
SCIL claims to own sole copyrights in the
audio visual songs, sound recordings, lyrics and musical composition in the
two
films. The complaint seeks injunction relief, damages in the amount of Rs.2.0
million (approximately US$50,000) and other relief. In June 2007, we filed
a
written reply. We have since removed these clips from our website. The matter
is
now pending before the High Court of Delhi. All of these actions require
management time and cost. In the event that we are unsuccessful in our defense,
we and our Chairman/Chief Executive Officer may face penalties and fines.
Please
see the section entitled “Business ¾ Legal
Proceedings”
in this annual report for more information on the litigation.
Other
proceedings
We
are also subject to other legal proceedings and claims, which have arisen
in the
ordinary course of our business. Those actions, when ultimately concluded
and
determined, will not, in the opinion of management, have a material effect
on
our results of operations or financial position.
For
additional information regarding pending litigation filed against us, please
see
“Business — Legal Proceedings” in this annual report.
A
slowdown in the Indian and the U.S. economies and in certain sectors could
adversely affect our business, operating results and financial
condition.
We
are dependent on the health of the Indian and the U.S. economies. A slowdown
in
the United States and Indian economies or sectors in which our clients are
based, including the Internet and technology-based sectors, or an overall
reduction in consumer and business spending, could have a materially adverse
impact on our business and our prospects. A significant portion of our revenues
are derived from retail customers and from companies that operate in various
sectors, including the Internet and technology-based sectors as well as
insurance, financial services, banking and consumer goods sectors. Many of
these
sectors could experience slowdown in growth. As a result, advertisers may
reduce
advertising expenditures or may not spend as much money on online and offline
advertising as anticipated. A prolonged or material decline in Internet
advertising expenditure will have a material adverse effect on our operating
results. Further, a slowdown in the Indian and U.S. economies may make it
difficult for us to raise money in the equity and debt markets on terms
favorable to us or at all, which may have an adverse effect on our financial
condition and operating results.
We
have a history of losses. We may incur losses in the future and we may not
achieve or maintain profitability.
We
have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flows since our inception
in January 1996. As of March 31, 2007, we had an accumulated deficit of
approximately US$47.65 million. While we earned a net income of US$6.96 million
for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, we may in the future incur additional
net losses and negative operating cash flows. We expect to increase our spending
as we continue to expand our services, advertise and promote our brand, and
invest in the expansion of our infrastructure and sales and marketing staff.
We
have incurred and in the future may incur expenses in connection with
acquisitions and investments. Accordingly, we will need to generate significant
additional revenues in order to remain profitable. We may not be able to
do so.
Our business model is not yet proven in India or the United States, and we
cannot assure you that we will sustain our profitability or that we will
not
incur operating losses in the future. If we are unable to maintain
profitability, we will be unable to build a sustainable business. In this
event,
the price of our ADSs and the value of your investment would likely
decline.
Intense
competition in our businesses could prevent us from sustaining our
profitability.
Our
businesses compete in various sectors including with Indian and foreign online
content and services providers, and traditional print and television media
companies. In recent
times, we have witnessed increased competition in India from established
foreign
brands such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. We are also subject to
competition from companies known as “aggregators”, which aggregate advertising
space in third party websites and resell such space to our customers or
potential customers. Many of our competitors have a longer operating
history, greater name recognition and customer base, and greater management,
financial, technical, marketing, sales, brand, and other resources than we
do.
They can use their superior experience and resources in a variety of competitive
ways, including by investing more aggressively in research and development,
creating superior content, making acquisitions, and competing more aggressively
for advertisers. There has also been a trend toward industry consolidation
so
our smaller competitors today may become part of larger competitors in the
future. If our competitors in our online business are more successful than
we
are at generating visitors and website traffic due to
superior content and other service offerings or our
competitors in our publication business are more successful at growing their
circulation and advertising share, our revenues may decline.
In
addition to Internet companies, our online business faces competition from
other
companies that offer traditional media advertising opportunities, including
print and television companies. Most large advertisers have set advertising
budgets, a portion of which is allocated to Internet advertising. For the
near
future, we expect that large advertisers will continue to focus their
advertising efforts on traditional media. If we fail to convince these companies
to spend a larger portion of their advertising budgets with us, or if our
existing advertisers reduce the amount they spend on Internet advertising,
our
operating results may decline.
Competition
for visitors, customers, subscribers, advertisers and e-commerce partners
is
intense and is expected to increase significantly in the future because there
are no substantial barriers to entry in our market. Furthermore, it is difficult
to predict which online advertising pricing model, if any, will emerge as
the
industry standard. This makes it difficult to predict our future advertising
rates and revenues.
Our
Indian advertising revenues include revenues from other Internet companies,
including those engaged in the business of job searches, travel, matrimonial
and
online shopping. Some of these companies are startups without proven long-term
business models and are dependent on external funding for future growth.
Any
downturn in advertising spending from this segment could have an adverse
impact
on our revenues and profitability.
Our
publication business in the United States and Canada faces competition from
not
only Internet-based publications but also from other publications targeted
at
Indian-Americans and from television channels featuring Indian news and
programming. In addition, competition for paying subscribers for our India
Abroad newspaper, which is subscription-based, is intense due to the presence
of
other paid newspapers such as New India Times, Indian Express and India West.
Further, our publications also face competition from free newspapers and
from
electronic media, such as television and online publications and
services.
Our
revenues could be adversely affected if we are unable to successfully adapt
to
new forms of pricing for the services and products we offer. For example,
we
understand certain of our competitors have been willing to charge for job-site
advertising, not on the basis of clicks on hyperlinks, but only if clicks
result
in résumés being sent to the customers. Increased competition or the actions of
our existing competitors may result in:
·
|
loss
of visitors and website traffic;
|
·
|
loss
of paid subscribers;
|
·
|
reduced
operating margins;
|
·
|
loss
of market share; and
|
·
|
diminished
value in our services.
|
Any
one of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business,
financial condition and operating results. For additional information regarding
our competition, please see “Business – Competition” in this annual
report.
Our
quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly and may fail to meet
the
expectations of securities analysts and investors, which may cause the price
of
our ADSs to decline.
Our
quarterly results may also fluctuate significantly in the future based on
a
variety of factors. These factors could affect our long-term performance.
Some
of these factors include:
·
|
lower
than expected revenues from one or more of our
customers;
|
·
|
changes
in prices for our product and service
offerings;
|
·
|
increase
in personnel, marketing and other operating
expenses;
|
·
|
our
ability to attract new users and to retain existing users at reasonable
costs;
|
·
|
our
ability to adequately maintain, upgrade and develop our website,
our
computer network and the systems that we use to process customer
orders
and payments;
|
·
|
the
timing of our expansion plans in India and other geographic
markets;
|
·
|
seasonality
in retail sales;
|
·
|
technical
difficulties, system or website downtime or Internet service disruptions;
and
|
·
|
entry
into new businesses requiring substantial
investments.
|
Our
operating results are volatile and can be difficult to predict. As a result,
quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results may not be good
indicators of our future performance. In addition, it is possible that our
operating results in any future quarter could be below the expectations of
investors generally and any published reports or analyses on us. In that
event,
the market price of our ADSs may decline.
We
may not be able to grow our business if advertising in our markets does not
expand.
Online
Advertising
Our
business strategy depends on the anticipated growth of online advertising
in our
markets and the growth of our revenues depends on increased revenues generated
by online advertising. We anticipate that a high portion of our future revenues
will continue to be derived from online advertising on our website. Online
advertising is an evolving business and our ability to generate and maintain
significant advertising revenues will (among others) depend on:
·
|
our
ability to attract and retain advertisers at profitable rates in
light of
intense competition;
|
·
|
our
ability to generate and continue to grow a large community of users
with
demographics attractive to
advertisers;
|
·
|
advertisers’
acceptance of the Internet as an effective and sustainable
medium;
|
·
|
the
effectiveness of our advertising delivery, tracking and reporting
systems;
and
|
·
|
our
ability to adapt, including technologically, to new forms of Internet
advertising.
|
Different
pricing models are used to sell online advertising, and it is difficult to
predict which, if any, of the models will emerge as the industry standard.
This
makes it difficult to project our future advertising rates and revenues.
A
reduction in traffic on our website may cause new advertisers not to enter
into
contracts with us and could cause existing advertisers not to renew their
contractual arrangements with us, each of which, in turn, would reduce our
potential advertising revenues. Additionally, any development of Internet
software that blocks advertisements before they appear on a user’s screen may
hinder the growth of online advertising and could materially and adversely
affect our ability to grow our online advertising revenues and our business.
Also, a slowdown in economic growth, and in particular a slowdown in the
growth
of companies that advertise on the Internet, may result in a reduction in
our
advertising revenues.
Our
contracts with advertising customers do not commit them to continue to provide
us with a specific volume of business and can typically be terminated by
them
with or without cause, with little or no advance notice and without penalty.
Additionally, our contracts with advertising customers are usually limited
to a
specific project and/or for a specific time period and not any future work.
There are also a number of factors other than our performance, and not within
our control, that could cause the loss of advertising customers. Early
termination of material contracts or non-renewal of an expired
material contract could have a material adverse effect on our business and
on
our future financial performance.
Newspaper
Advertising
Our
business strategy in the United States and Canada for our India Abroad business
depends primarily on growth in advertising in our publications. Competition
to
provide news and information regarding India or of interest to Indian-Americans
in these markets is intense, with competitors including publications with
general circulation or that are offered for free and electronic media, such
as
websites and television channels dedicated to Indian news and programming.
Our
ability to secure advertising contracts and maintain our advertising rates
depends principally on the number of subscribers we have on our circulation.
If
we are unable to compete with these alternatives or experience a reduction
in
paid subscribers, we may experience a reduction in advertising revenues.
A
slowdown in economic growth, in particular a slowdown in the growth of companies
that advertise products or services targeted at Indian-Americans, may also
reduce advertising revenues for our publications. Further, as is the case
with
our contracts with online advertisers, our contracts with advertising customers
for our India Abroad business usually do not commit them to continue to provide
us with a specific volume of business and can typically be terminated by
them
with or without cause, with little or no advance notice and without penalty.
Any
of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business and
our
future financial performance.
The
loss of one or more significant advertisers could adversely affect our
revenues.
We
derive a considerable portion of our revenues from certain key advertisers.
For
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, our top ten advertisers in India accounted
for approximately 42% of our India Online revenues. For the same period,
for our
U.S. publishing business, our top ten advertisers contributed approximately
33%
of total U.S. publishing revenues. Any failure to meet advertiser expectations
could result in cancellation or non-renewal of contracts, which typically
can be
terminated by advertisers with or without cause, with little or no advance
notice and without penalty. The loss of, or a significant reduction in the
volume of business from, one or more of our large advertisers could have
a
material adverse effect on our operating results and financial
condition.
Our
operations could be disrupted by unexpected network interruptions caused
by
system failures, natural disasters or unauthorized tampering of our
systems.
Our
online businesses rely heavily on the Internet and, accordingly, depend upon
the
continuous, reliable and secure operation of Internet servers, related hardware
and software and network infrastructure, such as telephone lines leased from
service providers. The continual accessibility of our websites and the
performance and reliability of our network infrastructure are critical to
our
reputation, and our ability to attract and retain users, advertisers and
merchants. Any system failure or performance inadequacy that causes
interruptions in the availability of our services or increases the response
time
of our services could reduce our appeal to advertisers and consumers. Factors
that could significantly disrupt our operations include:
·
|
system
failures and outages caused by fire, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis,
power
loss, telecommunications failures and similar
events;
|
·
|
software
errors; computer viruses, break-ins and similar disruptions from
unauthorized tampering with our computer
systems;
|
·
|
security
breaches related to the storage and transmission of proprietary
information, such as credit card numbers or other personal information;
and
|
We
have limited backup systems and redundancy. The failure of these backup systems
could lead to the disruption of our services and the loss of important data.
We
have suffered temporary service outages in the past from time to time that
have
resulted in a disruption of our services. Future disruptions or the occurrence
of any of the foregoing factors may result in users being temporarily unable
to
access our content, community and e-commerce offerings. Any sustained disruption
will reduce the number of visitors to our website and could have a material
adverse impact on the transactions handled through our website. Such disruptions
could also reduce the number of advertisers on our site and materially affect
our operating results, which may lead to a decline in the market price of
our
ADSs.
We
seek to protect our computer systems and network infrastructure from physical
break-ins, as well as security breaches and other disruptive problems. We
employ
security systems, including firewalls and password encryption, designed to
minimize the risk of security breaches. There can be no assurance that these
security measures will be effective.
If
someone penetrates our network security or otherwise misappropriates sensitive
data about our users, we could be subject to liability. These liabilities
could
include fraud claims and other claims for misuses of personal information,
such
as unauthorized marketing purposes. These claims could result in litigation
and
could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations
and
financial condition.
We
do not carry material business interruption insurance to protect us in the
event
of a catastrophe, even though such an event could lead to a significant negative
impact on our business. Any sustained disruption in Internet access provided
by
third parties could also adversely affect our business.
We
may not benefit from our acquisitions and investments and our acquired
businesses could increase our net losses.
We
have made several strategic
acquisitions and investments in order to penetrate new markets, generate
additional revenue streams and provide value-added services to our users.
We
may, if opportunities arise, acquire or invest in developing products,
technologies or companies in the future. However, there can be no assurance
that
our acquisition and investment strategy will be successful or that we will
realize the anticipated benefits from such acquisitions or investments. Such
transactions are accompanied by a number of risks, including:
·
|
the
failure to identify operating weaknesses of the acquired business
during
the course of due diligence and negotiations of these
transactions;
|
·
|
the
difficulty of assimilating the operations, third-party relationships
and
personnel of the acquired companies with our
operations;
|
·
|
the
potential disruption to our ongoing business and distraction of
management
during the acquisition and integration
process;
|
·
|
the
difficulty of incorporating acquired technology, software or content
into
our products, and unanticipated expenses related to such
integration;
|
·
|
the
impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result
of
any integration of new management
personnel;
|
·
|
the
potential unknown liabilities associated with acquired
businesses;
|
·
|
failure
to develop successfully new products or
technologies;
|
·
|
failure
to popularize such products or technologies and/or derive expected
revenues therefrom;
|
·
|
unfavorable
changes in business environment and government regulations;
and
|
·
|
unfavorable
changes in accounting rules and guidelines relating to our
acquisitions.
|
Any
or all of our future acquisitions may face similar risks and we may not be
successful in addressing these risks or any other problems encountered in
connection with such acquisitions.
Our
business and growth will be impaired if we are unable to retain our existing
key
personnel and hire additional skilled employees.
We
are dependent on certain key members of our management team. In particular,
our
success depends upon the continued efforts of our Chairman and Managing
Director, Ajit Balakrishnan. We do not carry any key employee insurance.
All of
our employees are located in India and the United States, and each may
voluntarily terminate his or her employment with us. Our planned activities
will
require additional expertise in sales and marketing, technology and other
areas.
The labor market for skilled employees is extremely competitive, and
the
process of hiring employees with the necessary
skills is time consuming and requires the diversion of significant resources.
We
may not be able to continue to retain existing personnel or identify, hire
and
successfully integrate additional qualified personnel in the future. The
loss of
the services of key personnel, especially the unexpected death or disability
of
such personnel, or the inability to attract additional or replacement qualified
personnel, could impair the growth of our business.
We
are highly dependent on our agreements with mobile service providers for
service
delivery and fee collection.
Our
mobile services, including wireless short messaging services, depend mainly
on
the cooperation of a large number of private and government mobile phone
operators who have the necessary licenses to provide mobile services to
consumers across various states/cities in India. We rely on all of these
mobile
phone operators to provide network and gateway for our wireless short messaging
services. We also utilize their billing systems to collect service fees from
customers. Certain of these mobile phone operators also provide services
to
their customers (such as the downloading of ringtones), which compete with
the
mobile services we offer. This may make them less eager to cooperate with
us. If
any or all of these mobile service providers encounter technical problems,
or if
they refuse to cooperate with us or reduce fees payable to us, our ability
to
provide mobile services may cease or be severely disrupted, which may have
a
significant and adverse impact on our future operating results.
We
rely on increased sales of, and high renewal rates for, our subscription
and fee
based products and services.
A
part of our India Online revenue growth for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2007
was from our fee-based Internet services, including paid e-mail services,
other
subscription services and wireless short messaging service in India. If not
enough users adopt and use our fee-based Internet services, our growth may
be
adversely affected.
We
depend on mobile operators to advertise our mobile products to their
customers.
We
have arrangements with most Indian
mobile operators which allow the customers of such mobile operators to download
ringtones, wallpapers and other products from our servers. These customers
can
also access information relating to news, business and other information
from us
by using short messaging services. Some operators permit us to selectively
send
SMS messages advertising our mobile products to a section of their customer
base. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) recently announced a
plan to prevent unsolicited commercial communications to mobile phone users
who
sign up for a “Do Not Disturb” registry. At present it is not clear what
implications this will have on us. Any regulatory action to restrict or reduce
our ability to advertise our mobile products and services to mobile users
may
have an adverse impact on our future operating results.
Change
in our mobile SMS short code (from 7333 to 57333) could negatively impact
our
revenues from mobile SMS services.
We
have arrangements with most Indian mobile operators which allow the customers
of
such mobile operators to download ringtones, wallpapers and other products
from
our servers and also to access information relating to news, business and
other
services by keying in our four digit SMS short code (7333) from their mobile
phones. The Department of Telecommunications of India has instructed all
mobile
service providers and content providers to change their SMS short code to
a five
digit number with a prefix “5” to the existing code and accordingly, we have
adopted the revised five digit SMS short code (57333). If we are unable to
communicate such change to mobile customers, this may have a negative impact
on
our earnings and cash flow.
Potential
liability for information we publish may require us to defend against legal
claims, which may cause significant operational expenditures.
We
may be subject to claims for defamation, libel, copyright or trademark
infringement or other legal actions relating to the information we publish.
These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against
news
and opinion publishing businesses in the past. Our insurance coverage may
not
adequately protect us against these claims. Liability claims could require
us to
spend significant time and money in litigation and to pay significant damages.
As a result, liability claims, whether or not successful, could seriously
damage
our reputation and business.
We
may be liable to third parties for information uploaded on or retrieved from
our
website.
We
could be exposed to liability for content that may be accessible through
our
website or content and materials that we develop or that our users may upload
or
post in our social networking sites, message boards, chat rooms, blogs or
other
interactive services. For example, we are a party to a criminal writ petition
filed in the High Court of Mumbai, India, which alleged that we, through
our
website “www.rediff.com”, provided a search facility that enabled Internet users
to view pornographic, objectionable and obscene material. We may also be
subject
to claims for defamation, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement,
personal injury or other legal theories relating to the information we post
or
products sold by third parties on our website. For example, we have been
named
as a defendant in proceedings filed by Cartier International B.V. (“Cartier
International”) in the High Court of Delhi, India, where Cartier International
seeks to obtain a permanent injunction against a vendor who used the trademark
“Cartier” for selling products on our Rediff Shopping website. We could also
become liable if confidential information is disclosed inappropriately on
or
through our website. It is also possible that if any information provided
through our services contains errors, third parties could make claims against
us
for losses incurred in reliance on the information. Please see the section
entitled “Business – Legal Proceedings” in this annual report for more
information on the litigation described above.
We
offer Internet-based e-mail services, which could expose us to potential
liabilities or claims resulting from:
·
|
lost
or misdirected e-mail;
|
·
|
illegal
or fraudulent use of e-mail;
|
·
|
interruptions
or delays in e-mail service; and
|
·
|
loss
or deletion of data stored in
mailboxes.
|
We
recently launched a social networking platform called iShare which allows
members to upload and share music, videos and photos. Under our terms of
use,
our members are responsible for their accounts and must agree and undertake
not
to post or upload any material that violates or infringes any copyright or
other
privacy laws and acknowledge that Rediff.com assumes no responsibility for
the
contents accessed or uploaded through this service. Nonetheless, we could
be
subject to litigation within or outside of India which could include civil
or
criminal prosecution and civil liability. Such litigation could be costly
to
defend, involve substantial management time and in such event we can give
no
assurance that we would succeed in defending any such litigation.
The
laws in India and the United States relating to the liability of companies
which
provide online services, like ours, for activities of their users, are currently
unsettled. Investigating and defending these claims is expensive, even if
they
do not result in liability. We do not carry insurance to protect us against
all
types of claims, and there is no precedent on such liabilities under Indian
law.
Further, our business is based on establishing the Rediff.com website as
a
trustworthy and dependable provider of content and services. Allegations
of
impropriety, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation, disrupt our
ongoing
business, distract our management and employees, reduce our revenues and
increase our expenses.
We
may be liable to third parties for the products they purchase
online.
Consumers
may sue us if any of the products or services that are offered on our website’s
marketplace are defective, fail to perform properly or injure the user. Although
our agreements with manufacturers and distributors whose products are displayed
on our website’s marketplace typically contain provisions intended to limit our
exposure to such liability claims, these provisions may not be sufficient
to
limit all of our liability from such claims. Product warranties are the
responsibility of those who sell products on our website’s marketplace, although
our reputation can be adversely affected if a user is not satisfied with
a
purchase. Liability claims could require us to spend a considerable amount
of
resources, time and money in litigation and to pay significant damages.
Allegations of impropriety, even if unfounded, or poor service provided by
manufacturers and distributors on our website’s marketplace, could damage our
reputation, disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees,
reduce our revenues and increase our expenses.
In
addition, the laws relating to the
online sale of goods and services is not fully developed. The various laws
and
regulations that cover online sales of products and their interpretation
involve
a significant degree of uncertainty. Further, the application of tax law
as it
relates to online transactions for goods and services is likewise uncertain.
Our
business, financial condition and operating results may be materially affected
if we were required to obtain such registrations or comply with various
additional laws and regulations or pay additional taxes.
Privacy
concerns may prevent us from selling demographically targeted advertising
in the
future and make us less attractive to advertisers.
We
collect personal data from our user base in order to understand better our
users
and their needs and to help our advertisers target specific demographic groups.
If privacy concerns or regulatory restrictions prevent us from selling
demographically targeted advertising, we may become less attractive to
advertisers. For example, as part of our future advertisement delivery system,
we may integrate user information such as advertisement response rate, name,
address, age or e-mail address, with third-party databases to generate
comprehensive demographic profiles for individual users. However, if we are
unable to construct demographic profiles for Internet users because users
refuse
to give consent, we will be less attractive to advertisers and our business
may
suffer.
Indian
and/or overseas regulators and other telecommunications operators may challenge
our ability to offer a PC-to-PC voice facility as one of the features of
our
Rediff BOL instant messenger service.
Our
Rediff BOL instant messenger
service includes a feature that allows users to talk to each other using
their
PCs at both ends. Although the voice data of our users is transmitted through
the Internet using voice-over-internet-protocol technology and does not,
at any
point, pass through regulated public switched telephone networks, it is possible
that Indian and/or overseas telecommunications regulators, operators or trade
associations may seek to impose restrictions on our ability to offer this
facility. If any such restrictions are imposed, we may be required to
discontinue this feature of Rediff BOL. Further, we may be required to devote
time and management attention, and incur expenses, addressing any such
restrictions or responding to claims from third parties.
We
may not be able to manage our operations effectively if we grow, which could
harm our business.
We
anticipate expansion of our business in India as we address growth in our
customer base and market opportunities. In order to manage the expected growth
of our operations and personnel, we will be required to improve existing
and
implement new operational and financial systems, procedures and controls,
and to
expand, train and manage our employee base. Further, our management will
be
required to maintain and expand our relationships with various other partners,
mobile phone operators, Internet and other online service providers and other
third parties necessary to our business. We cannot assure you that our current
and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate
to
support our future operations or that such relationships will be maintained
or
developed.
Currency
exchange rate fluctuations may adversely impact our operating results and
financial condition.
The
exchange rate between the Rupee and the U.S. dollar has changed substantially
in
the last two decades and could fluctuate substantially in the future. On
an
annual average basis, the Rupee declined against the U.S. dollar from 1980
to
2002. In May 2002, however, the Rupee began appreciating relative to the
U.S.
dollar, such that as per the cable transfer buying Rupee/U.S. dollar exchange
rate quoted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Rupee gained
approximately 12.18% of its value relative to the U.S. dollar from a rate
of
Rs.49.08 = US$1.00 in May 2002 to a rate of Rs.43.10 = US$1.00 as of March
31,
2007. As of July 31, 2007, the cable transfer buying Rupee/U.S. dollar exchange
rate quoted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was Rs.40.18 = US$1.00,
a
6.77% appreciation against the rate as of March 31, 2007 stated above. The
reporting currency for the financial statements is the U.S. dollar and the
translation from Indian Rupees to U.S. dollars have been performed using
rates
specified by the Reserve Bank of India.
Because
a substantial portion of our cash and cash equivalents is currently held
in
Indian Rupees, devaluation or depreciation of the value of the Indian Rupee
will
adversely affect the value of our cash reserves in foreign currency terms.
In
addition, our market valuation could be materially adversely affected by
the
devaluation of the Indian Rupee if U.S. investors analyze our value and
performance based on the U.S. dollar equivalent of our financial condition
and
operating results. We expect that a substantial portion of our
revenues
will continue to be generated in U.S. dollars from our
U.S.-based operations for the foreseeable future and a significant portion
of
our expenses, including personnel costs, will continue to be denominated
in
Indian Rupees. As such, any appreciation of the Rupee against the U.S. dollar
will reduce the cost advantage derived from our Rupee-denominated expenses
and
is likely to adversely affect our financial condition and results of
operations.
If
we are unable to adapt to the rapid technological changes, our business could
suffer.
Our
success will depend, in part, on our ability to respond to technological
advances and practices on a cost-effective and timely basis. The development
and
implementation of such technology entails significant technical and business
risks. There can be no assurance that we will successfully implement new
technologies. If we are unable, for technical, legal, financial or other
reasons, to adapt in a timely manner to changing market conditions or customer
requirements, our business and our future financial performance could be
materially adversely affected.
If
we are unable to successfully seize upon new business opportunities, our
growth
may be adversely affected.
New
technologies are giving rise to new business opportunities, such as in gaming
and paid search. We believe that much of our future growth will depend on
our
ability to seize upon these opportunities and successfully launch new products
and services. If we are unable to do so, our future growth and financial
performance could be adversely affected.
A
small group of our existing shareholders control our company and may have
interests which conflict with those of our other shareholders or owners of
our
ADSs.
As
of March 31, 2007, our five largest shareholders beneficially owned an aggregate
of approximately 59.9% of our Equity Shares. As a result, such shareholders
acting collectively are able to exercise control over most matters requiring
approval by our shareholders, including the election of directors and approval
of significant corporate transactions. Under Indian law, a simple majority
is
sufficient to control all shareholder action except for those items which
require approval by a special resolution. In case of a special resolution,
approval of three-fourths of the shareholders present and voting is required.
Examples of actions that require a special resolution include:
·
|
issuing
additional shares of capital stock, except for pro rata issuance
to
existing shareholders;
|
·
|
commencing
any new line of business; and
|
·
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commencing
a liquidation.
|
Further,
Ajit Balakrishnan, Diwan Arun Nanda and Rediffusion Holdings Private Limited
(formerly Rediffusion Advertising Private Limited), are entitled to appoint
and
have appointed Mr. Balakrishnan as a Director on Board and as our Chairman
so
long as they hold not less than 10.0% of our issued, subscribed and paid-up
capital. Mr. Balakrishnan currently serves an indefinite term and is not
required to retire by rotation.
The
interests of our controlling shareholders may differ from our other shareholders
or owners of our ADSs and could result in a delay or prevention of a change
in
control of our Company even if a transaction of that sort would be beneficial
to
our other shareholders, including the owners of our ADSs, or in the best
interest of our Company.
For
additional information regarding our principal shareholders, please see
“Principal Shareholders” in this annual report.
The
laws of India do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent
as
those of the United States, and we may be unsuccessful in protecting our
intellectual property rights, which could lead to a reduction in our revenues
and an increase in our expenses.
Our
intellectual property rights are important to our business. We rely on a
combination of copyright and trademark laws, trade secrets, confidentiality
procedures and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual
property.
Our
efforts to protect our intellectual property may not be adequate. Our
competitors may independently develop similar technology or duplicate our
products or services. Unauthorized parties may infringe upon or misappropriate
our products, services or proprietary information. In addition, the laws
of
India do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of
the
United States, and the global nature of the Internet makes it difficult to
control the ultimate destination of our products and services. The
misappropriation or duplication of our intellectual property could disrupt
our
ongoing business, distract our management and employees, reduce our revenues
and
increase our expenses. We may need to litigate to enforce our intellectual
property rights or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary
rights
of others. Any such litigation could be time-consuming and costly and may
not
ultimately prove successful.
We
could be subject to intellectual property infringement claims as the number of
our competitors grows and the content and functionality of our website or
other
product or service offerings overlap with competitive offerings. Defending
against these claims, even if not meritorious, could be expensive and divert
our
attention and resources from operating our business. If we become liable
to
third parties for infringing their intellectual property rights, we could
be
required to pay substantial damages awards and forced to develop non-infringing
technology, obtain a license or cease selling the applications that contain
the
infringing technology. We may be unable to develop non-infringing technology
or
obtain a license on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
For
additional information regarding our intellectual property rights, please
see
“Business ¾
Intellectual Property” in this annual report.
The
limited installed personal computer base in India limits our pool of potential
customers and restricts the growth of our business.
The
market penetration of, or access to, personal computers, or PCs, and,
consequently, the Internet in India is far lower than in the United States.
According to the Indian Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology
(“MAIT”), personal computer sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007 were
estimated at 6.34 million units. Alternate methods of obtaining access to
the
Internet, such as through cable television modems or set-top boxes for
televisions, although available, are available in a limited manner in India.
We
cannot assure you that the market penetration of personal computers in India
will increase rapidly or at all, or that alternate means of accessing the
Internet will develop and become widely available in India. If these events
do
not occur we will not be able to expand our customer base, which will make
it
difficult for us to execute our business strategy.
The
success of technological infrastructure and consumer base for our products
and
services depends on the acceptance of the Internet in India, which may be
slowed
by cost and affordability issues, technical obstacles and unfavorable Government
policies.
The
growth of our India Online business is highly dependent on the growth in
the
number of PCs in use, and the penetration rates of broadband and Internet
use
and mobile phones.
The
growth of the telecom and mobile industry in India will be a significant
factor
in determining whether we can grow our business. As with many developing
nations, the fixed line telecommunications infrastructure in India is not
fully
developed. Although this industry has been opened for private sector
participation, service levels remains inferior to service levels in most
developed countries. Further, telephone penetration rates, measured by the
number of telephone lines per one thousand persons in India, are low when
compared to most developed countries. In addition, limitations in network
architecture in India sometimes limit Internet connection speeds to 28 Kbps
or
less, which are less than the 56 Kbps connection speeds on conventional dial-up
telephone lines, and significantly less than the up to 1.5 Mbps connection
speed
on direct satellite link, digital subscriber lines and cable modems in the
United States. These speed and cost constraints may severely limit the quality
and desirability of using the Internet in India, which consequently may limit
our ability to expand our pool of customers and reduce our desirability to
online advertisers.
Further,
our growth could be limited by the cost of obtaining hardware, software and
communications links necessary to connect to the Internet in India.
If much of India’s population is not able to afford access to the
Internet, it may be difficult for us to execute our business
strategy.
In
other developing Asian markets such as South Korea and Malaysia, an increase
in
broadband penetration rates led to rapid growth in the number of online
subscribers. Currently, broadband penetration rates in India are very low
compared to other developed countries. According to a recent report published
by
CLSA Asia
Pacific
Markets, India had a broadband subscriber base of 2.4 million as of March
31,
2007 as compared to 51.9 million for China. If the broadband and
telecom industry in India fails to register significant growth as has been
experienced by other developed countries, our growth may also be
affected.
The
success of our e-commerce platform depends on its acceptance and growth in
India, which is uncertain.
Many
of our existing and proposed products and services are designed to facilitate
e-commerce in India, although there is very little e-commerce currently being
conducted in India. Demand and market acceptance for these products and services
by consumers is highly uncertain. Critical issues concerning the commercial
use
of the Internet, such as legal recognition of electronic records, validity
of
contracts entered into through the Internet and the validity of digital
signatures, are governed in India by the Information Technology Act, 2000
(the
“IT Act”). In addition, many Indian businesses have deferred deploying
e-commerce initiatives for a number of reasons, including the existence or
perception of, among other things:
·
|
inconsistent
quality of service;
|
·
|
lack
of legal infrastructure relating to e-commerce in
India;
|
·
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lack
of security of commercial data such as credit card
numbers;
|
·
|
low
number of Internet users in India;
and
|
·
|
low
levels of credit card penetration in
India.
|
If
usage of the Internet, credit cards and e-commerce in India does not
substantially increase and the legal infrastructure and network infrastructure
in India are not further developed, we are not likely to achieve significant
growth of our e-commerce products and services. Also, a slowdown in economic
growth in India may result in an overall reduction in consumer and business
spending, which will adversely affect our e-commerce platform
revenues.
Changes
in employee benefit policies or laws could affect our financial conditions
and
our ability to retain talent.
The
Indian Finance Act of 2007 imposed a fringe benefit tax (“FBT”) on companies
with respect to specified securities or equity shares allotted or transferred,
directly or indirectly, by the company free of cost or at a concessional
rate to
its employees. The FBT is payable by the employer on the difference
between the fair market value of options on the date of vesting and the exercise
price thereof. The Government of India has not yet published guidelines on
how
the fair market value of the options should be determined. The new legislation
permits the employer to recover the FBT from the employees. If we are not
successful in recovering the FBT from our employees, this could cause our
overall expenses to increase significantly, and impact our cash flows. Further,
any passing on of the FBT by us to our employees may reduce the effectiveness
of
stock option grants in attracting and retaining talented employees.
Risks
Related to Investments in Indian Companies
We
are incorporated in India, and a large part of our assets, business operations
and employees are located in India. Consequently, our financial performance
and
the market price of our ADSs will be affected by social and economic
developments in India and the policies of the Government of India, including
taxation and foreign investment policies, as well as changes in exchange
rates,
interest rates and controls.
Terrorist
attacks and other acts of violence or war involving India, the United States,
and other countries could adversely affect the financial markets, result
in a
loss of business confidence and adversely affect our business, results of
operations and financial condition.
Terrorist
attacks, such as the ones that occurred in New York and Washington, D.C.,
on
September 11, 2001, New Delhi on December 13, 2001, the bomb blasts in Mumbai
on
August 25, 2003, the October 2004 bomb blasts in Northeast India and the
Mumbai
train bombings on July 11, 2006, as well as other acts of violence or war,
including those involving India, the United States or other countries, may
adversely affect Indian and worldwide financial
markets. These acts may also result in a loss of business confidence and
have
other consequences that could adversely affect our business, results of
operations and financial condition. Travel restrictions as a result of
such
attacks may have an adverse impact on our ability to operate effectively.
Increased volatility in the financial markets can have an adverse impact
on the
economies of India and other countries, including economic
recession.
If
communal disturbances or riots erupt in India, or if regional hostilities
increase, this would adversely affect the Indian economy, the health of which
our business depends upon.
Some
parts of India have experienced communal disturbances, terrorist attacks
and
riots during recent years. If such events recur, the market for our services
may
be adversely affected, resulting in a decline in our income.
The
Asian region has from time to time experienced instances of civil unrest
and
hostilities among neighboring countries, including those between India and
Pakistan. Since May 1999, military confrontations between India and Pakistan
have occurred in Kashmir. The hostilities between India and Pakistan are
particularly threatening because both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers.
Hostilities and tensions may occur in the future and on a wider scale. Also,
since 2003, there have been military hostilities and continuing civil unrest
and
instability in Iraq and Afghanistan. Events of this nature in the future,
as
well as social and civil unrest within other countries in Asia, could influence
the Indian economy and could have a material adverse effect on the market
for
securities of Indian companies, including our ADSs, and on the market for
our
services.
Political
instability related to the current multi-party coalition government could
halt
or delay the liberalization of the Indian economy and adversely affect economic
conditions in India generally and our business in particular.
The
Government has traditionally exercised and continues to exercise significant
influence over many aspects of the economy. Our business, and the market
price
and liquidity of our ADSs, may be affected by interest rates, changes in
Government policy, taxation, social and civil unrest and other political,
economic or other developments in or affecting India.
Since
1991, successive Indian governments have pursued policies of economic
liberalization, including significantly relaxing restrictions on the private
sector. We cannot assure you that these liberalization policies will continue
in
the future. The 2004 general elections in India resulted in the election
of a
multi-party coalition government that relies on the support of political
parties
that have traditionally been opposed to the economic liberalization policies
that have been pursued by previous governments. The rate of economic
liberalization could change, and specific laws and policies affecting technology
companies, foreign investment, currency exchange rates and other matters
affecting investment in our securities could change as well. A significant
change in India’s economic liberalization and deregulation policies could
adversely affect business and economic conditions in India generally, including
our business.
Indian
law limits our ability to raise capital and the ability of others to acquire
us,
which could prevent us from operating our business or entering into a
transaction that is in the best interests of our shareholders.
Indian
law constrains our ability to raise capital through the issuance of equity
or
convertible debt securities. Foreign investment in an Indian company may
require
approval from relevant government authorities in India including the Reserve
Bank of India. The Government of India has classified existing businesses
into
various categories for automatic approval of foreign direct investment up
to
certain prescribed percentages. Under the current guidelines, the Government
of
India provides for approval under the automatic route for foreign direct
investment proposals relating to the information technology sector.
We
cannot assure you that equity or
other forms of financing will be available on terms favorable to us, or at
all.
If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms,
our ability to fund our operations, take advantage of anticipated or
unanticipated opportunities, develop or enhance our infrastructure and services,
or otherwise respond to competitive pressures would be significantly limited.
Our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially
adversely affected by any such limitation.
Our
ability to acquire companies organized outside of India may depend on the
approval of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. Our failure
to obtain approval for acquisitions of companies organized outside India
may
restrict our growth, which could negatively affect our
revenues.
As
part of our business strategy, we may plan to acquire complementary businesses,
including businesses based outside of India. For the acquisition of a business
based outside India we may, under certain circumstances, be required to obtain
approval of the Reserve Bank of India and/or the Government of India. Under
guidelines
issued
by the Reserve Bank of India, the acquisition of companies organized outside
India is permitted under certain circumstances without prior approval if
such
acquisition does not exceed 300% of the Indian party’s net worth as of the date
of the last audited balance sheet of the Indian party. This ceiling includes
contribution to the capital of companies organized outside India, loans granted
by the Indian party to such companies organized outside India and 100% of
guarantees issued by the Indian party to or on behalf of such companies
organized outside India.
We
cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain any required approval from
the
Reserve Bank of India and/or the Government of India. Our failure to obtain
approval from the Reserve Bank of India and/or the Government of India for
acquisitions of companies organized outside India may restrict our growth,
which
could negatively impact our revenues.
We
have not independently verified data from industry publications and other
third-party sources and therefore cannot assure you that they are complete
or
reliable. Such data may also be produced on different bases from those used
in
Western countries. Therefore, discussions of matters relating to India, its
economy or our industry are subject to the caveat that the statistical and
other
data upon which such discussions are based may be incomplete or
unreliable.
Risks
Related to the ADSs and Our Trading Market
An
active or liquid market for our ADSs is not assured.
Active,
liquid trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more
efficient execution of buy and sell orders for investors. Liquidity of a
securities market is often a function of the volume of the shares that are
publicly held by unrelated parties. Although holders of our ADSs are entitled
to
withdraw the Equity Shares underlying the ADSs from our depositary facility
at
any time, subject to certain legal restrictions, there is no public market
for
our Equity Shares in India or elsewhere.
Under
current Indian law, Equity Shares may only be deposited into our depositary
facility in exchange for ADSs and, under certain circumstances, the number
of
ADSs that can be outstanding at any time is limited as follows: after any
offering of ADSs, Equity Shares can be deposited for issuance of ADSs only
to
the extent that (a) holders have surrendered ADSs and withdrawn Equity Shares
from the ADS facility and (b) such holders sold such Equity Shares through
stockbrokers registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”)
in a domestic Indian stock market. As our Equity Shares are not listed on
any
Indian stock exchange, if you elect to surrender your ADSs and receive Equity
Shares, you would be unable to redeposit outstanding Equity Shares with our
Depositary and receive ADSs. Therefore, unless the law is changed, the number
of
outstanding ADSs and the trading volumes for all ADSs will decrease to the
extent that Equity Shares are withdrawn from our depositary facility and
not
deposited for the re-issuance of ADSs, which may adversely affect the market
price and the liquidity of the market for the ADSs.
Currently
there is no public trading market for our Equity Shares in India or elsewhere
which, together with existing Indian laws that restrict the conversion of
outstanding equity shares into ADSs, reduce your ability to sell our Equity
Shares represented by ADSs.
Currently
there is no public trading market for our Equity Shares in India or elsewhere,
and we cannot assure you that we will take steps to develop one or that we
will
be able to meet applicable listing guidelines or regulations to list our
Equity
Shares on a stock exchange in India or elsewhere. Our Equity Shares are
currently only traded on the NASDAQ Global Market in the form of ADSs. Under
current Indian laws and regulations, outstanding Equity Shares not listed
in
India may not be deposited into our depositary facility except in certain
limited circumstances or with certain regulatory approvals. Thus, if you
elect
to surrender your ADSs and receive Equity Shares, you will not be able to
trade
those Equity Shares on any securities market. Further, you will be prohibited
from re-depositing such unlisted outstanding Equity Shares with our
Depositary.
Under
current Indian regulations and practice, approval of the Reserve Bank of
India
is not required for a renunciation in favor of a resident of India of rights
to
subscribe to equity shares pursuant to a rights offering or for the
sale of equity shares underlying ADSs by a non-resident of India to a resident
of India, unless the sale breaches the
pricing guidelines laid down for this purpose by the RBI, which specify that
where the equity shares of an Indian company are not listed on a stock
exchange:
·
|
if
the consideration payable for the transfer does not exceed Rs.2.0
million,
at a price mutually agreed upon by the seller and the buyer, based
on any
recognized valuation methodology currently in use, on submission
of a
certificate from the statutory auditors of the Indian company whose
equity
shares are proposed to be transferred, regarding the valuation
of such
equity shares; and
|
·
|
if
the consideration payable for the transfer exceeds Rs.2.0 million,
at a
price arrived at, at the seller’s option, in any of the following manners,
namely: (i) a price based on earnings per share (EPS linked to
the Price
Earning (P/E) multiple), or a price based on the Net Asset Value
(“NAV”)
linked to book value multiple, whichever is higher; or (ii) a price
which
is the lower of the two independent valuations of the equity shares
being
transferred, one prepared by the statutory auditors of the company
and the
other by a Chartered Accountant or a Merchant Banker in Category
1
registered with Securities and Exchange Board of
India.
|
Our
management has broad discretion in using the proceeds from our securities
offerings and cash from operations and therefore investors will be relying
on
the judgment of our management to invest those funds
effectively.
Our
management has broad discretion with respect to the expenditure of the net
proceeds from our securities offerings and cash from our operations. As of
March
31, 2007, we held approximately US$53.55 million as cash and cash equivalents
and short term deposits with banks on which we are earning interest. We intend
to use these funds primarily to develop additional platforms for the growth
of
our online business, product development, and general corporate purposes,
including capital expenditures and strategic investments, partnerships and
acquisitions. However, there is a possibility that we may be unable to make
successful strategic investments, partnerships or acquisitions in the near
future. Further, there could be a risk that our management may use these
funds
in an inefficient or ineffective manner.
Our
ADS market price is highly volatile and could drop unexpectedly in the
future.
The
stock markets in the United States have from time to time experienced
significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected the market prices
for the securities of technology companies, particularly Internet companies.
Volatility in the price of our ADSs may be caused by factors outside of our
control and may be unrelated or disproportionate to our operating results.
In
the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a public
company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been
instituted against that company. Securities class action litigation has been
instituted against us in the United States. Please see “Risk Factors – Pending
and potential litigation against us could have a material adverse effect
on our
business and operating results and lower the market price of our ADSs” in this
annual report for more information. Such litigation brought against us, even
if
unsuccessful, could damage our reputation and result in substantial costs
and a
diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
Owners
of our ADSs may be restricted in their ability to exercise preemptive rights
and
thereby may suffer future dilution of their ownership
position.
Under
the Indian Companies Act, 1956, as amended (the “Companies Act”), a company
incorporated in India must offer its holders of equity shares preemptive
rights
to subscribe and pay for a proportionate number of shares to maintain their
existing ownership percentages prior to the issuance of any new equity shares,
unless the preemptive rights have been waived by adopting a special resolution
by holders of three-fourths of the company’s equity shares which are voted on
the resolution. U.S. owners of ADSs may not be able to exercise preemptive
rights for Equity Shares underlying ADSs unless a registration statement
under
the Securities Act is effective with respect to the rights or an exemption
from
the registration requirements of the Securities Act is available. Our decision
to file a registration statement will depend on the costs and potential
liabilities associated with any given registration statement as well as the
perceived benefits of enabling the owners of our ADSs to exercise their
preemptive rights and any other factors that we deem appropriate to consider
at
the time the decision must be made. We may elect not to file a registration
statement related to preemptive rights otherwise available by law to our
shareholders. In the case of such future issuance, the new securities may
be
issued to our Depositary, which, if there is a trading market for such new
securities which may not be the case, may sell the securities for the benefit
of
the owners of our ADSs. The value, if any, our Depositary would receive upon
the
sale of such securities cannot
be
predicted. To the extent that owners of ADSs are unable to exercise preemptive
rights granted in respect of the Equity Shares represented by their ADSs,
their
proportional interests in our company would be reduced.
Owners
of our ADSs may be restricted in their ability to exercise voting rights
because
of the practical and legal limitations associated with instructing our
Depositary to vote on your behalf.
Holders
of ADSs may exercise voting rights only through a depositary, unlike an owner
of
Equity Shares, who can exercise voting rights directly. An owner of ADSs
generally will have the right under the deposit agreement to instruct our
Depositary to exercise the voting rights for the Equity Shares represented
by
the ADSs. Owners of ADSs have no rights pursuant to the Companies Act, under
which we are incorporated, and are limited to those rights granted to them
pursuant to the deposit agreement.
If
our Depositary timely receives voting instructions from an owner of ADSs,
it
will endeavor to vote the securities represented by those ADSs in accordance
with such voting instructions. In the event that voting takes place by a
show of
hands, our Depositary will cause the custodian to vote all deposited securities
in accordance with the instructions received from owners of a majority of
the
ADSs for which our Depositary receives voting instructions. However, the
ability
of our Depositary to carry out voting instructions may be limited by practical
and legal limitations and the terms of the securities on deposit. We cannot
assure that holders of ADSs will receive voting materials in time to enable
them
to return voting instructions to our Depositary in a timely manner.
We
do not plan to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.
We
do not anticipate paying cash dividends to the owners of our Equity Shares
or
ADSs in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales
of
their Equity Shares or ADSs, which may increase or decrease in value, as
the
only way to realize cash from their investment. Investors seeking cash dividends
should not purchase our ADSs.
We
may be classified as a passive foreign investment company for United States
federal income tax purposes, which could subject United States investors
in the
ADSs or Equity Shares to adverse tax consequences.
It
is uncertain whether we will be classified as a passive foreign investment
company (a “PFIC”) for United States federal income tax purposes for the current
or any future taxable year. PFIC status is a factual determination made annually
on the basis of the composition of our income and the value of our active
versus
passive assets. The valuation of our goodwill and other unbooked intangibles
is
based on our market capitalization, which may be less than anticipated or
may
subsequently decline. In addition, the composition of our active versus passive
assets will be affected by the extent to which we spend the liquid assets
we
presently hold for business development purposes. If we were to be or become
classified as a PFIC, United States investors in our ADSs or our Equity Shares
may incur significantly increased United States income tax on gain recognized
on
the sale or other disposition of our ADSs or our Equity Shares and on the
receipt of distributions on our ADSs or Equity Shares to the extent such
gain or
distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the United States
federal income tax rules. Please see the section in this annual report entitled
“Taxation – United States Federal Income Tax Considerations – Passive Foreign
Investment Company Rules”.
Sales
of substantial amounts of securities in the public market could depress the
price of our ADSs and could impair our ability to raise capital through the
sale
of additional Equity Shares.
The
market price of our ADSs could decline as a result of sales of a large number
of
Equity Shares represented by ADSs on a U.S. stock exchange or elsewhere,
or the
perception that such sales could occur. Such sales also might make it more
difficult for us to sell Equity Shares in the future at a time and at a price
that we deem appropriate. As of March 31, 2007, we had an aggregate of
14,603,800 Equity Shares outstanding. Of the outstanding Equity Shares,
8,907,200 ADSs, representing 4,453,600 Equity Shares, are freely tradable.
Our
remaining Equity Shares may be sold in the United States pursuant to a
registration statement under the Securities Act or an exemption from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act. Further, certain holders
of at
least 30% of our Equity Shares can require us, subject to limitations, to
effect
a registration of such Equity Shares and/or to list the Equity Shares either
on
the NASDAQ Global Market (formerly the NASDAQ National Market), the National
Stock Exchange of India or the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (formerly The
Stock
Exchange, Mumbai).
We
may be required to list our Equity Shares on an Indian stock exchange. If
we
were to list our Equity Shares on an Indian stock exchange, conditions in
the
Indian securities market may affect the price or liquidity of our Equity
Shares.
On
June 28, 2006, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of India issued
amendments to the “Issue Of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds And Ordinary
Shares (Through Depositary Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993” (the “Scheme”). The
amendments included a statement that Indian companies that have issued
depositary receipts and/or foreign currency convertible bonds prior to August
31, 2005 will be permitted to comply with listing conditions on the Indian
stock
exchanges within three years of having started to make profits. At present,
the
manner in which the amendments to the Scheme prescribed by the Ministry of
Finance will be interpreted and implemented, and how they would apply to
us, is
still uncertain. However, because we generated US$1.21 million and US$6.96
million of net income in fiscal 2006 and 2007, respectively, we may eventually
be required to list our Equity Shares on an Indian stock exchange.
The
Indian securities markets are smaller than securities markets in more developed
economies and are more volatile than the securities markets in other countries.
Indian stock exchanges have in the past experienced substantial fluctuations
in
the prices of listed securities.
Indian
stock exchanges have also experienced problems that have affected the market
price and liquidity of the securities of Indian companies. These problems
have
included temporary exchange closures, broker defaults, settlement delays
and
strikes by brokers. In addition, the governing bodies of the Indian stock
exchanges have from time to time restricted securities from trading, limited
price movements and restricted margin requirements. Further, from time to
time,
disputes have occurred between listed companies and the Indian stock exchanges
and other regulatory bodies that, in some cases, have had a negative effect
on
market sentiment. If we were to list our Equity Shares on an Indian Stock
Exchange and similar problems occur in the future, they could harm the market
price and liquidity of the Equity Shares and this could have an adverse effect
on the price of our ADSs.
It
may be difficult for you to enforce any judgment obtained in the United States
against us or our affiliates.
We
are incorporated under the laws of the Republic of India and many of our
directors and executive officers reside outside of the United States. In
addition, a large part of our assets and the assets of many of these persons
are
located outside of the United States. As a result, you may be unable
to:
·
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effect
service of process upon us outside India or these persons outside
the
jurisdiction of their residence; or
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·
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enforce
against us in courts outside of India or these persons outside
the
jurisdiction of their residence, judgments obtained in U.S. courts,
including judgments predicated upon the federal securities laws
of the
United States.
|
We
have been advised by our Indian counsel that the United States and India
do not
currently have a treaty providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement
of
judgments of courts in the United States in civil and commercial matters.
Therefore, a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any federal
or
state court in the United States on civil liability, whether or not predicated
solely upon the federal securities laws of the United States, would not be
enforceable in India. However, the party in whose favor such final judgment
is
rendered may bring a new suit in a competent court in India based on a final
judgment which has been obtained in the United States. A judgment of the
courts
in the United States shall be conclusive as to any matter directly adjudicated
between the parties to the suit except if Indian courts were of the opinion
that
such judgment:
·
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was
not rendered by a court of competent
jurisdiction;
|
·
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was
not rendered on the merits of the
case;
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·
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appears
on the face of the proceedings to be founded on an incorrect view
of
international law or a refusal to recognize the law of India in
cases in
which such law is applicable;
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was
obtained in proceedings which are opposed to “natural justice”;
or
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sustains
a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in
India.
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BUSINESS
Overview
Our
legal name is Rediff.com India Limited. We were incorporated on January 9,
1996
as Rediff Communication Private Limited under the Indian Companies Act. We
converted to a public company on May 29, 1998. On February 15, 2000, we changed
our name to Rediff.com India Limited. Our principal office is located at
Mahalaxmi Engineering Estate, 1st Floor,
L.J. First
Cross Road, Mahim (West), Mumbai 400 016, India, and our telephone number
is
+91-22-2444-9144. Our Internet address is www.rediff.com.
We
are a leading Internet destination in India, focusing on providing world-class
online consumer offerings in India and to the global Indian community. Our
websites in India and the U.S. consist of communication services, such as
e-mail
and instant messaging, news and information channels, community features,
sophisticated search engines, and mobile and online marketplace
services.
We
also publish two weekly newspapers aimed at the Indian-American community
based
in the United States and Canada: “India Abroad” and “India in New
York”.
During
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, our management reclassified our business
segments and reviewed our performance on a new basis. In April of 2004, we
sold
our phone card business and in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards (“SFAS”) No. 144, “Accounting for the impairment or disposal of
long-lived assets”, the operations of this business have been classified
under discontinued operations. Currently we operate two business segments,
the
India Online business and the U.S. Publishing business.
In
June 2000, we issued 5.3 million ADSs, representing 2.65 million Equity Shares,
at a price of US$12.00 per ADS, raising net proceeds of US$57.3 million,
after
underwriting discounts and expenses, and we listed our ADSs on the NASDAQ
Global
Market. In November 2005, we issued 3.0 million ADSs, representing 1.5 million
Equity Shares, at a price of US$15.86 per ADS, raising net proceeds of US$44.1
million, after underwriting discounts and other expenses, and these ADSs
were
also listed on the NASDAQ. Our ADSs are currently listed and traded on the
NASDAQ Global Market (formerly the NASDAQ National Market). The net proceeds
of
our ADS offerings have been used by us, and in future, are intended to be
used
by us, to develop content for our Internet website, to advertise and promote
our
brand, and for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures,
strategic investments, partnerships and acquisitions.
During
the years 2001 and 2002, while we waited for the Indian Internet user base
to
grow, we made a number of acquisitions in the United States to strengthen
our
offerings to people of Indian origin living in North America. First, we acquired
“thinkindia.com”, an Internet website servicing people of Indian origin in the
United States, for US$3.4 million. Next, in March 2001, we acquired Value
Communication Corporation (“ValuCom”), a provider of online phone cards, for
US$3.7 million plus deferred consideration payable over a period of two years.
Subsequently, in July 2002, we concluded the acquisition of ValuCom by paying
the deferred consideration of approximately US$3.1 million. In April 2001,
we
acquired India Abroad and India in New York, two weekly community newspapers
based in New York, for approximately US$11.4 million.
We
periodically evaluate the fair value of goodwill arising from these acquisitions
by applying the guidelines of SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible
Assets”, and wrote off US$3.3 million, US$8.3 million and US$1.7 million
for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively. In
accordance with SFAS No. 144, “Accounting for the impairment or disposal of
long-lived assets”, the goodwill write-off relating to our ValuCom
acquisition has been disclosed as results from discontinued operations. The
residual value of goodwill as of March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007 relates to
our
India Abroad business and amounts to US$7.3 million.
During
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004, we evaluated the prospects of the ValuCom
business and decided that, because of a number of factors, including the
downward trend of telecom rates for US-India telephone calls, the emergence
of
low cost competitors and our lack of sufficient scale, it was more prudent
to
exit the ValuCom business. In April 2004, we exited this business.
Our
Markets
We
believe that the growth of our revenues and profits from our India Online
business is dependent on the growth of the Indian Internet and mobile phone
user
bases, the evolution of adequate payment mechanisms and our ability to capture
a
sizeable share of the increase in revenues resulting from such
growth.
The
growth of the user bases for internet and mobile phones, in turn, is dependant
on government policies which facilitate a competitive and financially healthy
telecom industry. During the last few years, the Government of India has
taken a
number of steps in this direction, opening most sectors of the telecom industry
to private sector and foreign capital, establishing independent regulatory
authorities and reducing taxes on personal computers and mobile phones. We
believe that these government initiatives have begun to show results as a
combination of lower prices for both personal computers (“PCs”) and Internet
access (including broadband access) have led to growth in PC ownership and
a
corresponding growth in the number of Internet subscribers. This growth is
evidenced by the following:
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According
to statistics released by the MAIT, the Indian PC market grew by
26% in
terms of sales volume during the fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal
2006;
and
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According
to the TRAI, India’s mobile subscriber base grew by 20 million subscribers
during the first quarter of fiscal 2008, increasing the mobile
subscriber
base in India to 185 million as of June 30, 2007, a 65% increase
compared
to the same date last year.
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The
growth of our U.S. businesses is dependent on our ability to launch new services
that appeal to the approximately 2 million Asian Indians living in the United
States as well as increase in advertising revenues from our Rediff India
Abroad
website and from our weekly newspapers, India Abroad and India in New
York.
Our
Opportunity
Both
Internet and mobile phone usage are at an early stage in India and, after
a
period of slow growth from 2000 to 2003, are starting to accelerate. We believe
our opportunities are driven by the following factors:
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We
believe that we were an early mover in the Indian market; our brand
is
recognized and valued by Indian Internet
users;
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We
offer services based on the latest technology; we believe that
our
platform is convenient to use and provides locally relevant services
that
have a high utility value for
consumers;
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We
are one of the few Internet companies in India offering complete
website
services, such as e-mail, search, community, instant messaging,
blogs,
news and online shopping;
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According
to a recent report published by CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, India
had a
broadband subscriber base of 2.4 million as of March 31, 2007 as
compared
to 51.9 million for China. As penetration and usage of the Internet
grow
in India, we believe advertisers will increasingly use this medium
as an
additional advertising channel. We believe that as Internet advertising
grows in popularity in India, we are well positioned, as one of
India’s
leading websites, to benefit from this
growth;
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Anticipated
improvement in online payment infrastructure, distribution and
fulfillment
facilities, an increase in credit and debit card penetration rates
and the
development of alternative payment mechanisms for online purchases,
such
as cash on deliveries is expected to fuel the growth of e-commerce
in
India; and
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In
India, we expect mobile value-added services in the form of ringtones,
games and chat services to increase in popularity as the mobile
subscriber
base increases.
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We
believe that as a website with a large number of users, we are well positioned
to benefit from the revenues generated from these services.
Our
Strategy
We
believe our success is due to our focus on providing a full range of culturally
relevant online products and services to Indians living in India and other
parts
of the world. We intend to continue to focus on providing the following
services:
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Online
advertising services on our Rediff.com website, revenues from which
currently account for a significant portion of our India Online
business.
These include banner advertising, performance based advertising,
email and
text link campaigns and sponsorship of editorial events. Our target
client
base for advertising and sponsorships include global companies
doing
business in India, domestic corporations and small and medium
enterprises.
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Our
“Pay4Clicks” platform, which is an automated platform that allows
merchants to advertise on the Rediff.com website, with a fee being
charged
to the merchant each time a user clicks on its
advertisement.
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Community
and social networking platforms which connect people through an
online
network. Our community products and platforms include iShare, Get
Ahead
Q&A and Rediff iLand.
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News
and information services, including breaking news, a recently launched
money channel Moneywiz as well as message boards for users to post
their
opinions, a facility for users to personalize news to those that
suit
their interests and periodic newsletters they can receive in their
e-mail
boxes. Our news and information channels cover politics, business,
entertainment and sports.
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Communication
services, including e-mail and instant messaging. E-mail services
are
provided in a variety of Indian
languages.
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Mobile
services, including facilities for downloading ringtones, mobile
games,
wallpapers, chat and email. We provide these services for both
2G and 2.5G
mobile services.
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Consumer
and business services, including webhosting, domain name registration,
matchmaking and astrology. Some of our consumer services are offered
on a
subscription basis.
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Search
and classified services, including facilities to locate local information
on domestic airfares, job listings, images and
businesses.
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Online
shopping services, including a platform for merchants in India
to create
online shops, package tracking facilities, and a facility for consumers
to
rate merchants. We offer a wide range of payment options to our
consumers.
|
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In
the United States, publication of “India Abroad” and “India in New York”,
as well as providing online services to the Asian Indian
community.
|
Our
Product and Service Offerings
India
Online Business
Our
Rediff.com India website consists of information, communication and content
services, free community products and platforms, e-commerce and mobile services.
With 53.6 million online registered users worldwide as at March 31, 2007,
we
believe Rediff.com is one of the most recognized online brands in India and
among the Indian community worldwide.
For
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, the India Online business segment
generated US$20.8 million of revenues, accounting for 72% of our total
revenues.
Information
and Content
We
deliver information and content to our users in an easy to use interface.
The
information and content channels currently available to our users include
news,
business, movies, cricket/sports and several other topics of
interest.
We currently offer this information and content without charge to our users.
We
launched a new Rediff.com homepage in fiscal 2007 that incorporates Web 2.0
features which we believe enhance usability and our users' browsing
experience.
We
believe that a significant percentage of our online users are between 18
and 34
years old. As such, we place emphasis on reaching younger users through more
focused information and content relevant to this audience.
Our
primary information and content channels are broadly classified into news
content and interest specific subjects. News content includes:
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Current
affairs and breaking news. Our in-house editorial staff and contract
journalists provide our users with up-to-date news focused on events
of
interest to Indians, including feature news stories, interviews
and online
chats with leading Indian personalities. We provide breaking news
and
in-depth coverage of significant news and other
events.
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Business
and Finance. Our recently launched Finance platform Moneywiz provides
stock market quotes, company information and a personal portfolio
tracker.
In addition, we provide business news, feature articles, expert
columns
and interviews. Our business channel offers business news from
India and
coverage of Indian stock markets. This channel also provides regular
columns and feature stories, as well as personal finance
information.
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Movies.
Our movie channel offers coverage of movie news from Bollywood
and
Hollywood with box office information, regular columns, stories,
interviews with movie personalities, movie reviews and slide
shows.
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Sports.
Our sports channel provides coverage of Indian and global sporting
news.
We provide in-depth coverage of cricket news from India and around
the
globe, including statistics, scores and schedules, regular columns,
feature stories and interviews. We also provide special coverage
of major
sporting events of specific interest to Indians. In fiscal
2007, we introduced a platform called Predict and Win, a skill-based
sports game where players earn points based on their prediction
of sports
matches. The platform was launched in connection with the
Cricket World Cup and has expanded to other sporting
events.
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Content
for these channels is managed through a combination of in-house editorial
staff,
content syndication from newswires, content aggregation from other publications
and news providers, and by partnering with specialized content providers.
We
also provide analysis of our in-house and aggregated news content and an
opportunity for users to participate in discussions and debates on a variety
of
subjects online in our discussion forums. In fiscal 2007, the editorial content
channel, Get Ahead, was enhanced by integrating a forum for questions and
answers (“Q&A”). Users can post questions and answers on various
issues and vote for the most relevant answers within a community
environment. Prolific users are rated using a point
system. The Company also launched a service enabling external
websites to create their own Q&A services using the Company’s
technology.
We
also operate a content crawling, aggregation and publishing platform, allowing
us to aggregate and publish, at a relatively low cost, a variety of channels
without actually incurring the expense of creating content.
Our
registered users have the opportunity to receive updated news and information
via e-mail by subscribing to a choice of newsletters.
Our
website also allows users to search the Rediff.com archives, which contain
over
seven years of news and information, using our own search
technology.
Community
Features and Products
Through
a single login facility, we provide a combination of free and paid community
features and products to consumers and businesses. Our offerings include
e-mail,
instant messaging, chat, vertical search tools, Matchmaker, astrology services,
blogs, message board, social networking and mobile services. Some of these
features and products are offered without charge, while others are offered
on a
subscription or fee basis. Payment for
our fee-based services can be made by credit cards and within India by
check/demand draft or through direct debit of the user’s Internet banking
account.
Our
specific offerings
include:
E-mail
We
offer our users a variety of e-mail solutions tailored to their needs and
we
believe that we have priced each of our branded e-mail products competitively.
All of our e-mail services offer Spam control and supports the use of English
and eleven Indian languages. Our e-mail offerings are described
below.
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Rediffmail,
our flagship e-mail service, is provided free of charge to our
users. Its
features include the ability to search for specific e-mails or
attachments, a drag and drop feature, auto-completion of email
addresses
and unlimited free storage space (including the ability to send
attachments of up to 10MB in size). Users can also subscribe to
receive
email over their mobile phone. In fiscal 2007, we introduced a
new version
of the web-based mail service to provide users with an experience
akin to
desktop-based e-mail products. The e-mail service is also
available in 11 Indian languages. We also recently introduced
the Access Mails Anywhere functionality, enabling mobile phone
users to
configure their Rediffmail account with their mobile phone and
access
their inboxes and respond to emails from their mobile
phones. As of March 31, 2007, we had approximately 48.5 million
registered Rediffmail users.
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Rediffmail
Pro is a subscription e-mail service targeted at business users.
Rediffmail Pro offers small businesses, as well as large corporations,
the
ability to select, subject to availability, their own domain name
for
e-mail addresses. Subscribers are given five e-mail addresses and
1GB of
storage space, which can be allocated among different users and
increased
without limitation at an additional charge. Rediffmail Pro also
offers
enhanced address book features and enhanced virus protection. Users
may
also access their other e-mail accounts at other POP accounts through
their Rediffmail Pro accounts. A one year subscription to Rediffmail
Pro
is currently priced at Rs.1,695 (approximately US$41). Rediffmail
Enterprise Pro is a web based e-mail service for corporates having
a large
field force of agents/sales
associates/dealers.
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Rediff
Business Solution is aimed at the small and medium enterprise (“SME”)
segment in India. Through this product, we offer SMEs a range of
web
management services such as domain name registration, web hosting
and
business email. Features offered include 100MB web hosting service,
a
choice of Windows or Linux platforms, POP3 business e-mail sevice
and the
ability to register domain names for up to ten
years.
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Instant
Messaging
Rediff
BOL instant messenger is a free service that enables instant communication
across the Internet with other Rediff BOL users, even for users with low
bandwidth Internet connections. Users can make PC-to-PC voice phone calls,
send
text messages via Short Messaging Service (“SMS”) free of charge to mobile
phones in India, create customized avatars and participate in chat rooms.
Rediff
BOL has also been upgraded to include a video messaging feature, allowing
users
to engage in interactive chats using both voice and video features. We also
offer Rediff BOL users the ability to communicate with others who share their
interests through various chat rooms organized by areas of interest and
geographic locations in India and around the world. Our chat services are
available free of charge.
Blogs
Rediff
iLand, our Web 2.0-based blogging tool, is a free online interactive community
where users can set up their own blogs and publish their thoughts and ideas
directly and instantly to the Web and visit other blogs and comment on them.
Users can also post pictures and create multiple blogs under a single username
and password. We offer “Moblogs” – a mobile blogging feature which allows users
to upload pictures or text from mobile phones directly onto their blogs – and we
believe we were the first in India to offer this service.
Social
Networking
Our
recently launched social networking platform iShare allows users to upload
videos, images and music and share these with other users. iShare is a social
networking platform where users can meet other people and make new
friends.
Rediff
Connexions is our free online social networking product which allows users
to
become part of a network by creating and uploading profiles that include
details
about their profession, education and interests. Thereafter, users can invite
friends to join their network and can become linked to a larger network.
Connexions includes a tool that allows a user to search for people who provide
specific services or products either from within a user’s network or from other
users across the service.
In
fiscal 2007, we created a forum for questions and answers with Get Ahead,
our
popular editorial content channel. This new social media platform allows
users
to post questions and answers on various issues, and vote for the most relevant
answers, within a community environment. Prolific users of this platform
are
rated using a point system.
Search
Services
As
India’s Internet user base grows there is an increasing need for localization of
services. Our search services are described below.
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Fare
Search, which allows users to search for and compare domestic
airfares across Indian carriers. Added features to Fare Search
include the “Lowest Fare Finder” search tool, which charts out the lowest
price points for up to 90 days, and the “Fare under Rs. 100/-”(US$3)
search tool, which allows users to search for deep discounted air
fares. In addition, users can search for hotel accommodation
across a large number of Indian cities with the “Hotel Search”
facility. Users can also access Fare Search on GPRS enabled
mobile phones.
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Job
Search, which allows users to search for jobs across multiple job
sites as well as private company and government job openings. Job
Search
also includes a tool that allows human resource consultants and
recruiters
to upload job vacancies, at no cost, directly to the Job Search
website.
We recently introduced the addition of a free email alert feature
that
allows users to stay updated on the latest job openings in their
desired
categories.
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Product
Search, which allows users to search for and compare product features
and prices for several hundred SKUs across major Indian cities.
Product
Search features a “Price history” feature that enables users to track
prices of different products on a month-on-month
basis.
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Newshound,
our news service, which tracks over 1,000 news sources and which
updates
itself through a set of algorithms every few minutes and classifies
relevant news and headlines within categories. Newshound is also
accessible through general packet radio service (“GPRS”) enabled mobile
phones.
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Other
search services, which include Image Search, Book Search and Ringtone
Search.
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Mobile
Services
Rediff
Mobile offers mobile phone users a number of value added services. Users
order
our value added services from their mobile phones by sending a request via
SMS
to 57333, which is our designated number for such services, or by browsing
our
content on GPRS or wireless application protocol (“WAP”) enabled mobile phones.
For certain value added services, users can also place orders through our
website, including downloads, contests, services, and news and information.
Our
mobile offerings are described below:
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Downloads.
Users can download ringtones, polyphonic ringtones, logos, picture
messages, wallpapers and games from our website. We have introduced
search
of ring tones on mobile phones. Downloads include popular Indian
content,
such as Indi-pop ringtones, Indian cricket team logos and wallpapers
featuring Bollywood movie stars. Our ringtones, logos, picture
messages
and wallpapers are currently priced between Rs.1 and Rs.20 each
(including
the cost of the outgoing SMS which requests the download), and
our games
are currently priced between Rs.49 and Rs.99
each.
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Contests.
Users can participate in contests in which they can win prizes
by
correctly answering questions sent to them by SMS (Short Messaging
Service, or text messaging). Users are charged for the cost of
each
outgoing SMS message which responds to a
question.
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Services.
We offer users a variety of mobile phone related services by SMS,
such as
the ability to search, seek and interact with other users, play
interactive games, and receive jokes and astrological predictions.
Users
are charged for the cost of each outgoing SMS message which requests
the
service.
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News
and Information. Users can stay updated on current events by
receiving cricket scores, news and stock quotes by an SMS message.
Users
are charged for the cost of each outgoing SMS message which requests
the
news and information.
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Subscription.
Subscription based services have been introduced where customers
can
choose to subscribe for a monthly service for receiving daily SMS
based
information, jokes, or astrology related services for a fixed monthly
fee.
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E-mail
and Instant Messaging. Rediffmail and Rediff BOL subscribers can
receive, read and reply to e-mails and instant messages by SMS.
Users are
charged only a fee for each outgoing SMS which contains the e-mail
or
instant message. In fiscal 2007, we introduced a Hindi language
feature for Rediff BOL and a downloadable program for subscribers
with
Symbian OS mobile phones.
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We
have entered into agreements with major Indian mobile phone operators permitting
their mobile phone users to access our offerings. Our agreements with these
operators currently allow us to reach global systems for mobile communications
(“GSM”)-based and CDMA-based cellular providers, covering almost the entire
mobile footprint in India. Pursuant to the terms of our agreements with Indian
mobile phone operators, we receive a portion of the amounts charged by these
operators to their mobile phone users for using our mobile- based offerings.
With these partnerships with Indian mobile phone operators, we believe that
we
have established an extensive footprint in the country for value-added mobile
services.
Online
Shopping
Rediff
Shopping is an online marketplace which allows users to purchase products
and
services from various merchants. We offer products and services from merchants
in various categories, the most popular of which currently include electronics,
apparel, personal accessories, flowers and jewelry.
Customers
can pay for their purchases using a variety of payment options, including
credit
cards, debit cards, online banking services, cash on delivery, gift vouchers
and
checks/demand drafts. We have entered into agreements with leading Indian
banks
to facilitate payment processes. We also have a check-drop and check-collection
facilities in more than 25 of the largest towns in India.
Rediff
Shopping also features a vendor rating system to enable online shoppers on
our
e-commerce platform to rate their shopping experience with different online
merchants. Customers are invited to provide feedback when items are delivered,
rating their experience with the vendor as satisfactory, unsatisfactory or
undecided. Vendors are rated based on the amount and type of feedback provided,
after applying internal logic calculations.
Auctions
In
2005, we launched Rediff Auctions, an e-commerce platform that allows customers
to use an online multi-price marketplace and bid for items listed for sale
by
vendors. We provide vendors with the software tools that they can use to
upload
and manage their online inventory. Vendor inventories are posted on the auction
site and bids are accepted for a specific period of time, after which the
customer with the highest bid wins the auction.
Our
Revenue Sources
India
Online business primarily includes revenues from online advertising and
fee-based services. Online advertising includes revenues from advertisements
and
sponsorships from customers. Fee based services include revenues from online
shopping, subscription services and wireless short messaging
services.
Online
Advertising
Online
advertising on our site includes revenues from banner advertising, performance
based advertising, email and text link campaigns and sponsorships of events.
Our
advertisers enter into agreements pursuant to which they either pay a fixed
fee
per thousand banner impressions for a given time-period, usually ranging
from
one month to one year, or a variable fee depending upon the number of
click-throughs or leads provided to them through our website.
Some
of our advertisers also enter into agreements pursuant to which they pay
a fixed
fee for a guaranteed number of impressions on our site. Our rate per thousand
impressions, commonly referred to as CPMs, for banner advertisements varies,
depending on banner size, location of the advertisements on our site, the
targeted geographical area and the extent to which the advertisements are
targeted to a particular audience. Discounts from standard CPM rates may
be
provided for higher volume and longer-term advertising contracts. We have
introduced other formats for advertisers to broaden the appeal of the
advertisements to our users, such as text links, image ads, video ads and
combinations of these.
We
had over 350 advertisers on our Rediff.com India website during the fiscal
year
ended March 31, 2007. Our top ten advertisers accounted for approximately
54% of
our India advertising revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
A
partial list of our advertising clients includes Bennett Coleman Group,
Monster.com, Naukri.com, Bharatmatrimony.com, ICICI Group, Ebay.com,
Makemytrip.com and Microsoft.
In
fiscal 2005, we launched “Pay4Clicks”, which is an automated platform that
allows merchants to advertise on the Rediff.com website, with a fee being
charged to the merchant each time a user clicks on its advertisement. Users
who
click on an advertisement are directed to the merchant’s website or e-mail
address or to the merchant’s mobile phone via SMS. Our Pay4Clicks platform is
aimed at attracting Indian SMEs that have little or no online presence or
have
limited advertising budgets, thereby allowing them to reach a wider market
for
their products or services. We have also added a re-seller module to allow
our
partners to sell advertisements on the Rediff.com website.
In
fiscal 2006, we launched our Rediff Classifieds platform, which is a
performance-based advertising platform which allows the display of classified
advertisements in accordance with defined categories. It has an automated
ad
creating and uploading front-end tool and a mechanism that allows advertisers
to
receive responses via SMS through any mobile phone in India.
Fee-based
services
Revenues
from fee-based services primarily include income from various paid subscription
service products, from our online shopping marketplace and income from mobile
services.
Subscription
service revenues primarily include income from our various paid e-mail service
products and our domain name registration and web hosting services. The revenue
for subscription based service products is recognized ratably over the period
of
subscription.
Online
shopping revenues primarily consist of commissions earned on the sale of
electronics, books, music, apparel, confectionery, gifts and other items
to
customers who shop from vendors on our online store. Revenues from online
shopping services also include fees charged to vendors for creating, designing
and hosting the vendors’ product information on our website.
Fee-based
revenues are also derived from providing mobile value-added services. We
have
contracts with mobile phone operators for sharing revenues from these services.
SMS-based revenues are recognized when the service is performed.
Our
Infrastructure
Technology
Our
operating infrastructure is scalable and has been designed with a view to
serving and delivering millions of page views per day. This allows users
to
access our products and services quickly and efficiently from different
locations worldwide. Our infrastructure is also designed to provide high-speed
access by forwarding
queries
to web-hosting sites with greater resources or lower loads. In addition,
our
webpages are generated, served and cached by servers located at co-location
web
hosting sites in India.
We
use Apache and IIS servers located in India and which run on Linux, and Windows
platforms. Servers in India are maintained mainly at Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Limited (“VSNL”) and the Reliance Data Centre in Mumbai. We also use the Akamai
Inc. content delivery network. We believe that using these hosting services
enhances our ability to protect our systems from power loss, break-ins and
other
potential external causes of service interruption. These hosting services
also
provide continuous customer service, multiple Internet connections and
continuous power supply to our systems. In addition, we conduct online
monitoring of all our systems for accessibility, load, system resources,
network- server intrusion and timeliness of content.
Online
Advertising
Our
sales and marketing professionals are responsible for seeking additional
advertisers and e-commerce merchants, creating advertisements, as well as
obtaining and analyzing customer feedback. Sales team members are based in
Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New York. The sales
team
coordinates regularly regarding advertising across all of our businesses.
Our
sales team includes designers, copywriters, programmers, campaign managers
and
technology personnel. As of March 31, 2007, our sales team consisted of 111
sales and marketing professionals.
Many
of the leading advertising agencies have expanded their operations with the
establishment of interactive divisions. These divisions promote the Internet
as
an advertising medium among leading marketers in India. We closely interact
and
work with these advertising agencies in garnering larger online advertising
budgets from their clients.
Our
sales team sells advertising space on our websites. They focus their sales
efforts on major advertisers in India as well as smaller corporations. Our
sales
team consults regularly with advertisers on design and placement of their
web-based advertising, provides advertisers with advertising measurement
analysis and focuses on providing a high level of customer service
satisfaction.
Online
Shopping
Our
shopping platform has a host of user-friendly features such as product search
and detailed product category listing. The “tracking order”, “view account”,
“shopping bag details” and “order status update by automated e-mail” features
make online shopping more convenient for users. Users can pay for purchases
by
credit card, local check, cash-on-delivery (“C.O.D.”), Rediff gift vouchers or
direct debit to an Internet banking account if they have an account with
designated Indian banks. Our customer service officers address customer
inquiries and solicit feedback from users to continuously improve our offerings.
Customers are invited to provide feedback when items are delivered using
our
vendor rating system, rating their experience with a vendor as satisfactory,
unsatisfactory or undecided. Vendors are rated based on the amount and type
of
feedback provided, after applying internal logic calculations. We also have
a
dedicated customer phone support team to facilitate completing
transactions.
Once
a user places an order on our website, we process and collect payment (except
where the method of payment is C.O.D.) and notify the merchant who then packages
the product and arranges for delivery through one of our designated couriers
or
the user’s designated courier. We make payment to the merchant once we receive
proof that the merchant has dispatched the product. Most products purchased
through our website are delivered within ten business days. Product warranties
are the responsibility of those who sell products on our website’s marketplace,
although our reputation can be adversely affected if a user is not satisfied
with a purchase.
Pursuant
to the terms of our agreements with merchants, we receive a one-time entry
fee
and a separate commission on the sale of each product posted on our
website.
Our
sales force targets manufacturers and vendors of the leading products in
India
for them to offer their products through the Rediff Shopping platform. We
also
target manufacturers and vendors that supply products in categories that
are
fast moving over the Internet.
Electronic
Payments
We
were among the first Internet companies in India to accept credit cards for
online payments. Users can use all leading international and Indian credit
cards
and online money transfers for online payments. All online transactions are
secured by Verisign Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
We
have entered into agreements with Citibank, N.A. and ICICI Bank Limited to
automate Visa and MasterCard credit card payments through our
website.
We
also have arrangements with a number of major banks in India to facilitate
online money transfers.
United
States Publishing Business
Our
United States publishing business primarily consists of the Rediff India
Abroad
website, which is targeted at the Indian-American community in North America,
our India Abroad newspaper and our India in New York newspaper. For the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2007, the United States publishing business generated
US$7.9 million of revenues, accounting for 28% of our total revenues. We
previously offered a Rediff Radio service in North America but discontinued
this
service in October 2005.
The
Rediff India Abroad website offers information and content which is similar
to
the information and content on our Rediff.com India website, along with
additional offerings relevant to North American users.
India
Abroad
India
Abroad, which we acquired in April 2001, was established over 35 years ago
and
is one of the oldest weekly newspapers focused on the Indian community in
North
America. The newspaper is published in five North America editions - New
York,
Tristate, Chicago/Dallas, Los Angeles and Canada.
The
paper is divided into five sections: News, Community, Business and Sports,
Classifieds, and a Magazine. India Abroad’s content is targeted at Indians
living in North America.
The
paper is available for home delivery primarily in the United States and Canada.
The annual subscription rate is US$32 in the United States. Subscriptions
for
six months, two years, five years and ten years are also available. India
Abroad
is also available at leading newsstands, Indian grocery stores and other
retail
outlets across North America, generally at US$1 per copy. Subscriptions comprise
approximately 80% of our circulation.
India
Abroad offers classified advertising, which includes advertisements listed
together in sequence by the nature of the advertisement, such as matrimonial,
business/finance, employment, medical and real estate. The paper also has
a
Bulletin Board on the back cover which offers enhanced classified advertising.
India Abroad also has an associated website, www.indiaabroad.com, which allows
users to start and renew subscriptions, make payments and change their delivery
addresses. Users can also place classified advertisements through this
website.
India
in New York
India
in New York, a guide to events and entertainment from India Abroad, was started
in 1997 as a sister publication of India Abroad. India in New York features
news, events, sports and entertainment and a wide array of classifieds. The
India in New York newspaper is distributed free in the Tristate area of New
York, New Jersey and Connecticut. India in New York is available at restaurants,
temples, Indian associations, community events and Indian grocery stores
in the
Tristate area.
Competition
Online
There
are a number of companies that provide websites focusing on India and the
global
Indian community. These companies compete with our websites for visitors,
online
advertising, e-commerce and
subscription
revenues. Competition for visitors, advertising revenue and e-commerce is
intense and is expected to increase in the future as there are no substantial
barriers to entry in our market.
Our
ability to compete successfully depends on many factors including:
·
|
our
ability to adapt to new technologies and to develop new products
and
services;
|
·
|
the
user friendliness and popularity of our
services;
|
·
|
our
sales and marketing efforts;
|
·
|
the
performance of our technology; and
|
·
|
ability
to fund our operations.
|
We
compete with providers of Indian content over the Internet, including web
directories, search engines, content sites, websites, horizontal sites and
Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). Our current and anticipated competitors
include:
·
|
Yahoo.co.in
and Yahoo.com (Yahoo, Inc.);
|
·
|
MSNBC.co.in
and MSN.com (Microsoft
Corporation);
|
·
|
IndiaTimes.com
(Times Internet Ltd.); and
|
We
also compete for advertisers and advertising revenue with other forms of
media,
such as print media, radio and television, as well as companies known as
“aggregators”, which aggregate advertising space in third party websites and
resell such space to our customers or potential customers.
Many
of our competitors have a longer operating history, greater name recognition
and
customer base, and greater management, financial, technical, marketing, sales,
brand, and other resources than we do. They can use their superior experience
and resources in a variety of competitive ways, including by investing more
aggressively in research and development, creating superior content, making
acquisitions, and competing more aggressively for advertisers. There has
also
been a trend toward industry consolidation so our smaller competitors today
may
become larger in the future. If our competitors are more successful than
we are
at generating visitors and website traffic due to superior content and other
service offerings, our revenues may decline.
Print
There
are a limited number of companies that provide newspapers focusing on India
and
the global Indian community. These newspapers compete with India Abroad for
advertising revenues. Our current competitors include:
Intellectual
Property
Intellectual
property rights are important to our business. We rely on a combination of
copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and
contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property. We require
employees, independent contractors and, when practicable, vendors to enter
into
confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of their relationships with
us.
These agreements generally provide that confidential information developed
or
made known during the course of a relationship with us must be kept
confidential.
Our
efforts to protect our intellectual property may not be adequate. Our
competitors may independently develop similar technology or duplicate our
products or services. Unauthorized parties may infringe upon or misappropriate
our products, services or proprietary information, including our domain name.
For example, there are some parties who have registered domain names similar
to
or slightly different from our domain name, Rediff.com, and we have filed
lawsuits in India to protect our rights in respect of our domain name. We
do not
believe that the outcome of these lawsuits will have a material adverse effect
on our business. However, the laws of India do not protect proprietary rights
to
the same extent as the laws of the United States. Further, the global nature
of
the Internet makes it difficult to control the ultimate destination of our
products and services. In the future, further litigation may be necessary
to
enforce our intellectual property rights or to determine the validity and
scope
of the proprietary rights of others. Any such litigation could be time-consuming
and costly.
We
could be subject to intellectual property infringement claims as the number
of
our competitors grows and the content and functionality of our website or
other
product or service offerings overlap with competitive offerings. Defending
against these claims, even if not meritorious, could be expensive and divert
our
attention from our operations. If we become liable to third parties for
infringing their intellectual property rights, we could be required to pay
a
substantial damage award and be forced to try to obtain or develop
non-infringing technology, obtain a license or cease selling the applications
that contain the infringing technology. If this were to occur, we may be
unable
to develop non-infringing technology or obtain a license on commercially
reasonable terms, or at all.
We
also rely on a variety of technologies that are licensed from third parties.
The
software developed by these third parties is used in our website to perform
key
functions. These and other third-party licenses may not be available to us
on
commercially reasonable terms in the future. The loss or inability to obtain
or
retain any of these licenses could delay the introduction of software
enhancements, interactive tools and other features until equivalent technology
could be licensed or developed. Any such delays could materially adversely
affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
We
have registered our trademarks for “Rediff”, “Rediff on the Net and Design
(Square)”, “Rediff.com” under various classes with the United States Patents and
Trademarks Office. We have received registration for our trademarks
“Rediff.com”, “Rediffmail” and “Rediff Bol” in India.
Facilities
India
Our
corporate headquarters are located in Mumbai, India, where we lease
approximately 17,000 square feet, located in two buildings. In one facility
we
lease approximately 11,000 square feet and in the other, we lease a total
of
approximately 6,000 square feet under two separate lease agreements. The
lease
for our 11,000 square foot facility has been extended until January 20, 2008.
The lease for our 3,000 square foot facility expired on October 31, 2006
and is
under negotiation for an extension. The lease for our new adjoining offices
expires on September 30, 2008. We also lease an area of approximately 600
square
feet as a warehouse for our Mumbai office.
We
lease office space for our branch offices in India. This includes an area
of
approximately 3,165 square feet of office space in New Delhi, the lease for
which expires on November 30, 2009; an area of approximately 265 square feet
in
Bangalore, the lease for which expires on September 13, 2008; an area of
approximately 240 square feet in Hyderabad, the lease for which expires on
November 14, 2009; and an area of 1,200 square feet at Chennai, the lease
for
which expires on January 31, 2008.
United
States
Our
India Abroad subsidiary leases approximately 6,250 square feet of office
space
in New York, the lease for which expires on October 31, 2007.
Additionally
India Abroad leases approximately 1,500 square feet for office space in Chicago,
Illinois, the lease for which expires on March 31, 2008.
Legal
Proceedings
Securities
Actions
Khanna
v. Rediff.com India Limited, et al., United States District Court of the
Southern District of New York, Case No. SDNY 01CV 3814. On April 16, 2001,
four
of our officers and directors, including Ajit Balakrishnan, our Chairman
and
Managing Director, a group of investment banks that acted as underwriters
in our
June 2000 IPO and listing of ADSs and we, were named as defendants in the
Khanna
Action, a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York. The plaintiffs alleged that our registration statement
filed with the SEC contained misleading statements and omissions in violation
of
the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 under the Exchange Act.
The
plaintiff class in this lawsuit were all persons who purchased ADSs from
the
time of the IPO through April 14, 2001.
Several
other class action lawsuits were subsequently filed against us and other
defendants stating substantially the same allegations as set forth in the
Khanna
Action.
All
the cases were consolidated before a single judge in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York.
Shives
et al. v. Bank of America Securities, LLC et al., United States District
Court of the Southern District of New York, Case No. 01 CV 3814. On June
5,
2001, twenty-four companies, including us, who had issued securities to the
public in their initial public offerings, together with the investment banks
who
acted as underwriters in these initial public offerings, were named as
defendants in the Shives Action, a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York. Also named as defendants
in this lawsuit were four of our officers and directors, including Ajit
Balakrishnan. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit alleged that the underwriter
defendants combined and conspired to inflate the underwriting compensation
they
received in connection with the initial public offerings of the defendant
companies, to manipulate and inflate the prices paid by plaintiffs for
securities issued in the initial public offerings and to restrain and suppress
competitive pricing for underwriting compensation. The plaintiffs alleged
claims
pursuant to the U.S. Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890, as amended, the U.S. Clayton
Antitrust Act, 1914, as amended, and the Securities Act against the underwriter
defendants. The plaintiffs further alleged that the defendants, including
us and
certain of our officers and directors, made material misstatements and omissions
in violation of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act by concealing or
failing
to disclose the compensation earned by the underwriters in the initial public
offerings. As against us and our officers and directors, the complaint defined
a
“Rediff.com Sub-Class” consisting of all persons who purchased securities of
Rediff.com India Limited from the time of the IPO through April 4,
2001. This case was consolidated with several hundred other similar
cases filed against other issuers who had IPOs in 2000 and 2001.
On
November 24, 2003, plaintiffs’ counsel in the Khanna Action and Shives Action
filed a Consolidated Amended Securities Class Action Complaint (“Consolidated
Complaint”) which incorporated the material allegations from Khanna Action and
Shives Action. On January 30, 2004, we and our officers and directors filed
a
motion to dismiss the Consolidated Complaint. The underwriter defendants
filed a
separate motion to dismiss. On October 15, 2004, the District Court judge
granted in part and denied in part the motions to dismiss and set a pre-trial
discovery schedule and referred the parties to a magistrate judge for settlement
discussions. The parties subsequently engaged in discovery and
continued settlement discussions in parallel. The settlement
discussions resulted in an agreement by the plaintiffs to settle all claims
against us and our officers and directors in exchange for a payment of US$2.5
million. Our D&O insurance policy provider agreed to fund the
entire amount of the settlement. The settlement agreement was
submitted to review by the Court and by all members of the putative
class. No class member submitted any objection to the settlement or
exercised a right to opt-out of the settlement. On July 12, 2007, the
Court entered an order giving the settlement full and final approval and
dismissing all claims against us and our officers and directors. As
there have been no appeals filed within 30 days of entry of the Court’s order,
this litigation was finally concluded on August 12, 2007.
We
may be subject to additional lawsuits of this nature filed in the future.
We
cannot predict the outcome of these lawsuits, nor can we predict the amount
of
time and expense that will be required to resolve these lawsuits. If these
lawsuits become time consuming and expensive, or if there are unfavorable
outcomes in any of these cases, there could be a material adverse effect
on our
business, financial condition and results of operations. We currently hold
insurance policies for the benefit of our directors and officers (the “D&O
Policy”), which provide coverage against certain claims. However, the amount of
coverage may not be sufficient for our needs or the various exclusions in
the
D&O Policy could result in denial of coverage, in which case we would have
to self-fund all or a substantial portion of our indemnification
obligations.
Action
Relating to Access to Pornographic Material
Sunil
N. Phatarphekar & Ors. v. Abhinav Bhatt and Ors., Mumbai High Court,
Criminal Writ Petition No. 1754 of 2000. On June 21, 2000, Rediff, its directors
and others (Ajit Balakrishnan, Arun Nanda, Abhay Havaldar, Sunil Phatarphekar,
Charles Robert Kaye and Tony Janz) were named as accused in a criminal complaint
(RCC Complaint Number 76 of 2000) filed by Mr. Abinav Bhatt, a 22 year old
student, before the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Pune, India, alleging
commission of an offence, under Section 292 of the IPC for distributing,
publicly exhibiting and putting into circulation obscene, pornographic and
objectionable material. The RCC Complaint alleged that we, through our website
“www.rediff.com”, provided a search facility that enabled Internet users to view
pornographic, objectionable and obscene material. On November 27, 2000, the
Judicial Magistrate passed an order in the Complaint holding that a prima
facie
case under Section 292 of the IPC had been made out against us and directed
commencement of criminal proceedings against all the defendants. A criminal
writ
petition was filed in the High Court of Mumbai (Criminal Writ Petition Number
1754 of 2000), seeking among other relief the setting aside of the order
of the
Judicial Magistrate. The High Court of Mumbai in its order dated December
20,
2000, while granting ad-interim relief to the petitioners in the Writ Petition,
stayed the order of Judicial Magistrate pending final disposal of the Writ
Petition. The Writ Petition has been admitted by the High Court of Mumbai.
While
we believe that the lawsuit is without merit, and that we and our directors
have
a valid defense to the Complaint, in the event that we are unsuccessful in
our
defense, we and our directors may face both criminal penalties and monetary
fines or damages.
Current
Indian laws provide that if any person publishes or transmits or causes to
be
published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals
to
the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and
corrupt
persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read,
see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished (i)
for
the first conviction, with imprisonment of up to five years and with a fine
of
up to Rs.100,000 (approximately US$2,000); and (ii) in the event of a second
conviction, with imprisonment of up to ten years and with a fine of up to
Rs.200,000 (approximately US$4,000).
Actions
Relating to Copyright Violation
A
complaint was filed by the IMI, a society representing various music companies
in Magistrate’s Court India against three of our directors. The complaint
alleges that by providing links to MP3 sites through its directory we have
been
guilty of violating Section 51 of the Copyright Act 1957. The complaint alleges
that the MP3 sites to which links were provided permitted downloading of
music
which had not been authorized to be so downloaded by copyright owners who
are
members of IMI. Our directors are named as parties to the lawsuit because,
according to the complaint, the directors are in charge of our affairs and
are
hence deemed to be guilty of committing the offense. Our directors have
presently been exempted from personal appearance. Our directors initially
filed
an application for discharge of the complaint before the Magistrate. The
application is pending hearing. Although our directors believe they have
valid
defenses to the action, if they are unsuccessful after exhausting all legal
remedies, our directors could face both criminal penalties and monetary
fines.
A
complaint was filed by SCIL, a producer and publisher of sound recordings
and
audio visual songs in India, against us and our Chairman/Chief Executive
Officer
as well as Ram Gopal Verma Films Private Limited in the High Court of Delhi
(Suit No. C.S. (O.S.) 736 of 2007). The complaint alleges violations of the
Indian Copyright Law of 1957 through our placement on our website of video
clips
of certain songs from two Hindi films (Nishabd and Honeymoon Travels Pvt
Ltd),
of which SCIL claims to own sole copyrights through an assignment in the
audio
visual songs, sound recordings, lyrics and musical composition. The complaint
seeks injunctive relief, damages in the amount of Rs.2.0 million (approximately
US$50,000) and other relief. In June 2007, we filed a written reply and
submitted the following facts that: (i) these song clips were uploaded as
an
editorial feature due to the recent release of the two films believing these
to
be newsworthy, in the course of our regular activity and not for commercial
purposes; (ii) the clips in question were not downloadable by our users;
(iii)
these clips were accompanied
by editorial review as normally done for a film’s release; (iv) these were
uploaded on our sites with
the
permission of the producer of these films or their publicists who had provided
us with such clips for the intended use; and (v) the use of the these clips
on
our website was fair use, uploaded for its newsworthiness for promotional
review
and was non-commercial in nature. We have subsequently removed these clips
from
our website. The matter is now pending before the High Court of Delhi. These
actions require management time and cost. In the event that we are unsuccessful
in our defense, we and our Chairman may face penalties and fines.
Actions
relating to Trademark Infringement
A
complaint was filed by Cartier International against Lotus Safetywear Ltd.
(“Lotus Safetywear”) and us alleging that Lotus Safetywear has used the
trademark “Cartier” on products that are being sold on our Rediff Shopping
website. Cartier International is seeking a permanent injunction restraining
the
defendants, including us, from using without license or permission the “Cartier”
trademark and/or such other identical or deceptively similar marks. Cartier
International is also claiming damages in the amount of Rs.2.0 million
(approximately US$50,000). We have filed our response to Cartier International’s
allegations and among the defenses we have raised are: (a) it is Lotus
Safetywear, and not Rediff.com, that has used the “Cartier” trademark and that
we have not infringed on any of Cartier International’s intellectual property
rights; (b) the Rediff Shopping website only provides an online platform
that
enables customers and sellers to enter into sale/purchase transactions and
we
are not involved in the sale or purchase of the goods/products listed on
our
website; and (c) vendors such as Lotus Safetywear are required to comply
with
the terms and conditions we impose on vendors using Rediff Shopping, which
includes providing us with the description of their products, prices and
product
images, and which also specifically provides that vendors shall not infringe
on
third party rights, including third-party intellectual property rights. Although
we believe that we have valid defenses to the action, if they are unsuccessful
after exhausting all legal remedies, we could be subject to monetary fines
or
damages.
Other
proceedings
We
are also subject to other legal proceedings and claims, which have arisen
in the
ordinary course of its business. Those actions, when ultimately concluded
and
determined, will not, in the opinion of management, have a material effect
on
our results of operations or financial position.
Rediff
Holdings, Inc. (“Rediff Holdings”) is our wholly owned subsidiary and is
incorporated in the State of Delaware. Rediff Holdings holds all of the
outstanding and voting shares of Rediff.com, Inc. (formerly, thinkindia.com)
and
substantially all of the outstanding and voting shares of India
Abroad.
Rediff.com,
Inc., which runs our U.S.-based Internet website, is incorporated in Delaware.
India Abroad is a New York corporation, which publishes a weekly newspaper
targeted primarily at the Indian community in North America. ValuCom, an
Illinois corporation incorporated in 1996, is another subsidiary of Rediff.com
India Limited. In April 2004, we sold ValuCom’s business to Worldquest Networks,
Inc. (“WQN”).
Government
Regulation
General
Our
online business is primarily subject to regulation by the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology (“MCIT”), which was formed in October
1999 and is a part of the Government of India. We may also be subject to
regulation by the MCIT and the TRAI.
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give
legal validity to digital
signatures;
|
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make
electronic records admissible in court in evidentiary
proceedings;
|
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set
default rules for time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic
records;
|
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allow
for filing of documents with the Government of India in electronic
form;
|
·
|
allow
for retention of documents, information or records in electronic
form;
|
·
|
set
up certifying authorities to issue and supervise digital
signatures;
|
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|
set
up a controller of certifying authorities to monitor and supervise
the
certifying authorities;
|
·
|
set
up Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunals to act as quasi-judicial
bodies
with respect to disputes relating to online transactions;
and
|
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penalize
computer crimes.
|
Although
the IT Act has been enacted, clarity on various issues including legal
recognition of electronic records, validity of contracts entered into through
the Internet, validity of digital signatures needs to be
established.
New
Telecom Policy, 1999
The
New Telecom Policy, 1999 (“the New Telecom Policy”), deals with restructuring of
the Indian telecommunications sector. The New Telecom Policy states that
ISPs
who wish to provide applications such as tele-banking, tele-medicine,
tele-education, tele-trading and e-commerce, will be allowed to operate using
infrastructure provided by various Internet access providers. The New Telecom
Policy also provides that no license fees will be charged for providing the
specific services, but registration with the Government of India will be
required. The New Telecom Policy prohibits such service providers to provide
switched telephony.
If
the New Telecom Policy is enforced in its current form, we may have to register
our services with the Government of India and we may also be governed by
the
regulations issued by the TRAI.
The
TRAI was established in January 1997 by the Government of India under the
provisions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, as an
autonomous body to regulate the telecommunications industry. On January 24,
2000, the President of India passed an ordinance to recast the TRAI. The
ordinance set up a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to
adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and licensee, between service
providers, appeals of telecom service providers and between service providers
and groups of consumers. This ordinance has been replaced by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Act, 2000. The TRAI under the amended
Act has powers to decide on new licenses and their terms and conditions,
the
levy of fees and charges on services, interconnectivity between the telecom
service providers and perform administrative and financial functions entrusted
to it by the Government of India. The new TRAI has no adjudicatory powers,
as
these powers now vest in a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Authority.
Telecom service providers can approach this appellate authority and the orders
of this authority can be challenged only in the Supreme Court of
India.
Privacy
At
present India does not have any specific legislation to prevent invasion
of
privacy by private parties. The Constitution of India protects the privacy
of
private parties against any invasion by the state or government, but it may
not
be possible to invoke this protection against violation by private parties.
There is no pending or proposed legislation that seeks to penalize or regulate
violation of privacy by private parties.
Encryption
Telecommunications
in India are governed by the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, as amended (the
“Telegraph Act”), and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, as amended (the
“Wireless Act”). Pursuant to the Telegraph Act, the provision of any
telecommunications services in India requires a license from the Government
of
India obtained through the Department of Telecommunications. While the Telegraph
Act sets the legal framework for regulation of the telecommunications industry,
the Wireless Act regulates the possession of wireless telegraphy equipment.
Encryption hardware may be considered as an instrument capable of being used
for
the transmission and reception of telecommunications signals. Any person
intending to use encryption hardware may be required to obtain prior permission
from the Department of Telecommunications of the Government of
India.
The
guidelines for ISPs permit the use of encryption equipment for providing
secrecy
in transmission up to a level of encryption specified by the Government of
India. However, if the encryption equipment of levels higher than specified
is
to be deployed, ISPs have to obtain the clearance of the Government of India
and
should deposit one set of keys with the Department of
Telecommunications.
These
guidelines are applicable to ISPs and it is uncertain whether they will apply
to
us. For using encryption hardware, we may have to obtain prior approval from
the
Department of Telecommunications. However, it is uncertain whether we are
required to obtain any approval from the Department of Telecommunications
or any
other department for using encryption software. Furthermore, there may be
certain restrictions in relation to the import of encrypted software into
India.
Imports
We
may be required to import into India computer hardware and Internet related
software purchased from foreign manufacturers for our business. These imports
will be subject to the Export and Import Policy issued by the Ministry of
Commerce of the Government of India. At the time of import, we may be required
to pay a customs duty pursuant to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, as amended.
We
will also be subject to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and the
rules
thereunder (“FEMA”), in connection with payments in foreign currency to the
manufacturers of these products. We may require the approval of the Reserve
Bank
of India if the payment in respect of such import is made beyond a period
of six
months from the date of shipment.
Ownership
of Foreign Securities
We
may wish to invest in the securities of foreign companies. The FEMA may require
that we obtain permission from the Reserve Bank of India prior to making
any
such investment or that we meet certain conditions in order to make such
investments.
MANAGEMENT’S
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The
following discussion of our financial condition and operating results should
be
read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related
notes included elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual
results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include,
but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this annual
report particularly in the “Risk Factors” section of this annual
report.
Overview
We
are a leading Internet destination in India focusing on India and the global
Indian community. Our websites in India and the United States include
information and content relevant to Indians, such as news, business, movies
and
cricket/sports, community features, such as e-mail, chat, messenger, e-commerce,
matchmaker, astrology, blogs and mobile services. With 53.6 million online
registered users worldwide as at March 31, 2007, we believe Rediff.com is
one of
the most recognized online brands both in India and among the Indian community
worldwide.
Additionally,
we publish a weekly newspaper, India Abroad, in the United States and Canada.
In
February 1996, we initiated our online content offerings with rediff.co.in
and
rediffindia.com. We later combined the sites into rediff.com, our online
website
in India. With the acquisition of thinkindia.com, Inc. (later renamed
Rediff.com, Inc.) in February 2001, we launched Rediff U.S.A. (re-branded
as
Rediff India Abroad), an online website providing content, community and
online
shopping primarily for our users in North America.
On
April 8, 2004, we sold our phone card business to WQN. The results of the
operations in the phone card business, are disclosed as discontinued operations
in our consolidated statement of operations.
Our
reportable business segments are:
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|
India
Online business, which primarily includes revenues from online
advertising
and fee-based services. Online advertising includes revenues from
advertisements and sponsorships. Fee-based services include revenues
from
online shopping, subscription services and wireless short messaging
services.
|
·
|
U.S.
Publishing business, which primarily includes revenues from the
Rediff
India Abroad website and revenues from the print newspapers India
Abroad
and India in New York.
|
Revenues
from our reportable business segments were as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
India
Online
business
|
US$6,556,320
|
|
US$12,174,927
|
|
US$20,759,227
|
U.S.
Publishing
business
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
revenues
|
|
|
|
|
|
We
have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flows since our inception
in January 1996. Although we earned net income of US$6.96 million for the
fiscal
year ending March 31, 2007, as of March 31, 2007, we had an accumulated deficit
of approximately US$47.65 million. We will need to generate additional revenues,
while controlling our expenses, to continue to increase our profits and to
reduce our accumulated deficit.
In
June 2000, we issued 5.3 million ADSs, representing 2.65 million Equity Shares,
at a price of US$12.00 per ADS, raising net proceeds of US$57.3 million,
after
underwriting discounts and expenses, and we listed our ADSs on the NASDAQ.
In
November 2005, we issued 3.0 million ADSs, representing 1.5 million Equity
Shares, at a price of US$15.86 per ADS, raising net proceeds of US$44.1 million,
after underwriting discounts and other expenses, and these ADSs were also
listed
on the NASDAQ. The net proceeds of our ADS offerings have been used by us,
and
in future, are intended to be used by us, to develop content for our Internet
website,
to advertise and promote our brand, and for general corporate purposes,
including capital expenditures, strategic investments, partnerships and
acquisitions.
Critical
Accounting Policies
Our
discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations
are
based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared
in
accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements
requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts
of
assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the related disclosures of
contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our
estimates, including but not limited to allowances for doubtful accounts,
the
valuation of investments, income taxes, restructuring costs, contingencies,
goodwill impairment and litigation. We base our estimates on historical
experience and on other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under
the
circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different
assumptions or conditions.
The
following are the significant
accounting policies used in the preparation of our consolidated financial
statements.
Revenue
Recognition
India
Online business
Revenues
from advertisement and sponsorships are recognized ratably over the contractual
period of the advertisement, commencing from the time the advertisement is
placed on our website. Revenues are also derived from sponsor buttons placed
in
specific areas of our website, which generally provide users with direct
links
to sponsor websites. Such revenues are recognized ratably over the period
in
which the advertisement is displayed, provided that no significant obligations
remain and collection of the resulting receivable is probable. Our obligations
sometimes include guarantee of a minimum number of impressions or number
of
times that an advertisement appears in pages viewed by users of our website.
To
the extent that minimum guaranteed impressions are not met, we defer recognition
of corresponding revenues until the guaranteed impression levels are achieved.
We also earn revenues from sending e-mail messages to some of our users on
behalf of advertisers and these revenues are recognized in the period when
such
e-mail messages are sent.
We
also earn revenues on sponsorship contracts, which include fees relating
to the
design, coordination and integration of the customers’ content, which are
recognized ratably over the term of the contract.
Fee-based
services include online shopping, subscription services and wireless mobile
services. Online shopping marketplace revenues primarily consist of commission
from the sale of electronics, apparel, books, music, confectionery, gifts
and
other items. Customers directly place orders with vendors through our website.
When an order is placed, we inform the vendor through an intranet and also
confirm whether payment has already been collected by us through credit
card/debit card or checks, or whether the payment is to be made by the customer
on a C.O.D. basis. The vendor then dispatches the products to the customers.
The
vendor sends a periodic summary of transactions executed for which we collected
payments on its behalf. We make payment to the vendor after deduction of
our
share of commission and costs. We recognize as revenues commissions earned
on
these transactions and shipping costs recovered from customers. Revenues
from
online shopping services also include fees charged to vendors for creating,
designing and hosting the vendors’ product information on our
website.
Subscription
revenues primarily include income from various subscription based products,
such
as paid e-mail, matchmaker, mobile based services, astrology and other services
that cater to a cross section of our registered user base. Revenues for
subscription based products are recognized ratably over the period of
subscription.
We
also derive revenues from providing value added mobile services such as
ringtones, picture messages, logos, wallpapers, e-mail and other related
products to mobile phone users. Our contracts are with third-party mobile
phone
operators from whom we receive a share of revenues for such services. SMS
¾ based
revenues are
recognized when the service is performed.
U.S.
Publishing business
U.S.
Publishing business primarily includes revenues from subscription and
advertising services from the publication of India Abroad, India in New York
and
our Rediff India Abroad website.
We
recognize advertising revenues at the time of publication of the related
advertisement. Subscription income is deferred and recognized pro rata over
the
term of the subscription. Revenues from banners and sponsorships on our Rediff
India Abroad website are recognized over the contractual period of the
advertisement, commencing from the date the advertisement is placed on the
website, provided that no significant obligations remain and collection of
the
resulting receivable is probable. Obligations may include guarantee of a
minimum
number of impressions, or times that an advertisement appears in pages viewed
by
users of our website. To the extent that minimum guaranteed impressions are
not
met, we defer recognition of the corresponding revenues until the guaranteed
impression levels are achieved.
Allowances
for doubtful accounts receivable and other
recoverables
We
maintain allowances for doubtful accounts receivable and for other recoverables
for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make
contractually agreed payments. All receivables which are outstanding for
180
days or more are provided for. We also make allowances for a specific account
receivable or other recoverable if the facts and circumstances indicate that
such account receivable or other recoverable is unlikely to be collected.
For
example, if the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate,
resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional
allowances may be required.
Depreciation
and amortization
We
depreciate/amortize our assets on a straight-line basis over the useful life
of
the assets, which range from three to ten years.
Goodwill
We
allocate excess purchase price over the historical cost of businesses acquired
to goodwill based on their fair values.
We
test the carrying balances of goodwill for impairment on January 1 each year
or
earlier upon the occurrence of a triggering event. The first step
compares the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying amount, including
goodwill. If the fair value of each reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount,
goodwill is not considered to be impaired and the second step will not be
required.
If
the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the second
step
compares the implied fair value of goodwill to the carrying value of a reporting
unit’s goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined in a manner
similar to accounting for a business combination with the allocation of the
assessed fair value determined in the first step to the assets and liabilities
of the reporting unit. The excess of the fair value of the reporting unit
over
the amounts assigned to the assets and liabilities is the implied fair value
of
goodwill. This allocation process is only performed for purposes of evaluating
goodwill impairment and does not result in an entry to adjust the value of
any
assets or liabilities. An impairment loss is recognized for any excess in
the
carrying value of goodwill over the implied fair value of goodwill.
Acquisitions
and Divestments
Value
Communications Corporation
On
March 23, 2001, we acquired the entire outstanding common stock of ValuCom,
a
company engaged in selling prepaid long-distance calling cards primarily
to the
Indian community in the United States and Canada. The purchase consideration
consisted of US$3.0 million, which was paid by us on March 23, 2001, plus
a
deferred consideration (called earn-out payments) payable over a period of
two
years which was contingent upon ValuCom’s achieving specified earnings levels in
those years.
The
transaction was accounted for by the purchase method in accordance with APB
Opinion No. 16, which resulted in creation of an initial goodwill of US$3.7
million at March 23, 2001. Such goodwill increased to US$6.82 million at
March
31, 2002 as a result of provisions for earn-out payments to ValuCom’s
former
shareholders
and cash-out of ValuCom options. Such goodwill further increased to US$7.13
million at March 31, 2003 as a result of final earn-out payments made to
ValuCom’s option holders.
On
April 8, 2004, we sold our phone card business, consisting primarily of the
“ValuCom” brand, trademarks, websites, internally built software, customer lists
and certain hardware for US$500,000 to WQN. In accordance with SFAS
No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived
Assets”, the disposal of the phone card business qualified as discontinued
operations at March 31, 2004.
India
Abroad Publications, Inc.
On
April 27, 2001, we acquired substantially all the outstanding voting shares
of
India Abroad Publications, Inc., a New York corporation primarily engaged
in the
publication of a weekly newspaper, India Abroad.
Pursuant
to a stock purchase agreement, at the closing of the acquisition, we paid
approximately US$11.4 million to the selling shareholders of India Abroad
Publications, Inc. Simultaneously with this acquisition, the former principal
shareholder repurchased certain assets for approximately US$1.1 million
resulting in an estimated gain of approximately US$314,000, which has been
recorded as reduction of goodwill.
We
accounted for this acquisition by the purchase method, in accordance with
APB
Opinion No. 16, which resulted in the initial creation of goodwill of
approximately US$10.5 million.
Goodwill
Impairment
Our
goodwill amounts arise from the acquisitions of Thinkindia.com, Inc., India
Abroad Publications, Inc. and ValuCom. Our business in India has been treated
as
a single reporting unit, and since none of the components in India benefited
from the synergies from acquisitions in the United States, no goodwill was
allocated to this reporting unit.
We
test for impairment of goodwill annually, or earlier upon the occurrence
of a
triggering event.
Current
Trading and Business Outlook
We
believe that the India Online market is entering a phase of accelerated growth
as revealed by indicators such as the increase in the number of mobile
subscribers, higher PC sales and the increased penetration of broadband
connections as recognized and encouraged by the TRAI. During the fiscal year
ended March 31, 2007, we continued our growth momentum with increases in
our
registered user base, paid subscribers and revenues. We believe the
online advertising industry is in a promising stage of development with more
marketers experimenting with the medium with significantly larger budgets.
Growth in this industry is largely dependent on the advertising industry
collaborating with online providers like us to cohesively promote the medium
to
leading marketers across the country.
Our
U.S. Publishing business, comprising the Rediff India Abroad website, our
India
Abroad newspaper and our India in New York newspaper, maintained its leadership
position within the Indian-American community during the fiscal year ended
March
31, 2007. Our U.S. Publishing business segment is mainly dependent on our
ability to attract print and online advertisers while effectively managing
costs
through greater operational efficiencies across our businesses.
We
believe the outlook for our India Online business during the fiscal year
ending
March 31, 2008 will be dependent on the continued growth of online advertising
and fee-based business, which, in turn, is primarily driven by increase in
the
Internet user and mobile user bases.
Actual
results may differ materially from those suggested by our forward-looking
statements due to certain risks or uncertainties associated with our
expectations with respect to, but not limited to the impact on our business
of a
continued economic slowdown or a downturn in the sectors in which our clients
operate, our ability to successfully implement our strategy, our ability
to
successfully integrate the business we have acquired with our business, demand
for our online and offline service offerings, changes in the Internet
marketplace, technological changes, investment income, cash flow projections
and
our exposure to market risks. By their nature, certain of the market risk
disclosures are only estimates and could be materially different from what
actually occur in the future. As a result, actual future gains, losses or
impact
on net interest income could materially differ from those
that have been estimated. For further discussion on forward-looking statements,
see the discussion under the “Forward-Looking Statements” section of this annual
report.
Operating
Results
The
comparative analysis presented below relates to our continuing
operations.
Revenues. Total
revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 increased by 53% to US$28.7
million from US$18.7 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006. This
increase was principally attributable to an increase in revenues from our
India
Online business and, to a lesser degree, the increase in revenues from our
U.S.
Publishing business.
India
Online business. We recognized US$20.8 million in revenues from
our India Online business for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 as compared
to US$12.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, representing
an
increase of US$8.6 million, or 70%, over the previous fiscal year. The increase
in revenue was mainly due to increases in:
·
|
advertising
revenues by US$7.7 million, primarily as a result of an increase
in
Internet advertising on our website due to an increase in the number
of
advertisers as well as an increase in advertising rates compared
to the
previous year; and
|
·
|
fee-based
services by US$0.9 million due to an increase in revenues from
our
subscription services, mobile services and our online shopping
marketplace. This resulted from greater usage of these
services.
|
U.S.
Publishing business. We recognized US$7.9 million in revenues
for the U.S. Publishing business for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007,
as
compared to US$6.5 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006,
representing an increase of US$1.4 million, or 21%, over the previous fiscal
year. The increase in revenues was primarily due to increase in advertising
revenues from our Rediff India Abroad website.
Cost
of revenues. Cost of revenues primarily includes cost of content
for the Rediff websites, editorial costs, printing and circulation costs
for the
India Abroad and India in New York newspapers, e-commerce marketplace related
costs and related salaries. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, cost
of
revenues was US$5.4 million, or 19% of total revenues, compared to US$5.0
million, or 27% of total revenues during the previous fiscal year.
We
anticipate that our cost of revenues
in absolute dollar terms for our India Online business will increase during
the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to the fiscal year ended March
31,
2007, as we expect to incur additional costs to continue to grow our
business.
Sales
and marketing expenses. Sales and marketing expenses primarily
include employee compensation for sales and marketing personnel, advertising
and
promotion expenses and market research costs. For the fiscal year ended March
31, 2007, sales and marketing expenses were US$5.9 million, compared to US$3.5
million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, representing an increase
of
US$2.4million, or 67%, over the previous fiscal year. The increase was
attributable to an increase in advertising and publicity costs as we continued
to invest in promoting our brand and services, as well as an increase in
Indian
sales and marketing costs due to an increase in the number of sales and
marketing staff we employed. The increase in advertising revenues in fiscal
2007
also led to a corresponding increase in incentive payments to sales employees
during fiscal 2007 due to both the increase in the number of sales employees
and
higher per employee incentive payments.
We
expect our sales and marketing expenses in absolute dollar terms will increase
for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, as compared to the fiscal year
ended
March 31, 2007, as we launch more products and services, expand the range
of
offerings on our websites and invest further in brand building, advertising
and
personnel.
Product
development expenses. Product development costs primarily include internet
communication costs, software usage fees, software development expenses and
compensation to product development personnel. For the fiscal year ended
March
31, 2007, product development expenses were US$3.8 million compared to US$2.6
million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, representing an increase
of
US$1.3 million, or 49%. The increase
was primarily due to an increase in bandwidth charges by US$0.6 million,
and an
increase in product development charges by US$0.5 million.
We
expect to continue to invest in product development to maintain our position
as
a leading Internet destination for the global Indian community. Therefore,
we
expect our product development expenses in absolute dollar terms to increase
in
the future.
General
and administrative expenses. General and administrative costs primarily
consist of compensation for administrative personnel, fees for legal and
professional services, allowances for doubtful accounts, insurance premium,
depreciation and amortization, compensation cost for all employees under
the
Employee Stock Option Plan (“ESOP”) and sundry administrative costs. For the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, general and administrative expenses were
US$10.5 million compared to US$6.6 million for the fiscal year ended March
31,
2006, representing an increase of US$3.9 million, or 58%. This increase was
primarily due to an increase of US$1.6 million in depreciation and amortization
expense, primarily as a result of an increase in capital expenditure during
fiscal 2007, an increase in ESOP compensation cost of US$1.3 million in fiscal
2007 as a result of expensing the fair value of options under Statement of
Financial Accounting Standard No. SFAS No. 123(R) Share-based payments
(“SFAS 123R”) and not recording such compensation costs using the intrinsic
value method under Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, and an increase
of US$0.6 million on account of provision for doubtful debts. We
expect that as we continue to grow, our general and administrative expenses
will
continue to increase.
Other
income (loss), net. Other income (loss), net primarily consists of interest
income and foreign exchange gain or loss. During the fiscal year ended March
31,
2007, other income (net) was US$4.0 million compared to US$0.3 million for
the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, representing an increase of US$3.7 million.
Interest income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 was US$3.7 million,
compared to US$1.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006,
representing an increase of US$2.5 million, or 205%. The increase in interest
income was primarily due to an increase in interest income from our cash
deposits with banks. This increase in interest income was primarily due to
higher applicable interest rates from our Rupee denominated deposits during
the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 as compared to the fiscal year ended March
31,
2006. In fiscal 2007, we recorded a foreign exchange gain of US$0.1 million,
compared to a foreign exchange loss of US$1.0 million in fiscal 2006, arising
from the conversion of U.S. dollar amounts held by us to our functional currency
for financial reporting purposes (i.e., the Indian Rupee). Other
income also includes US$0.1 million arising from sale of a minority investment
in equity shares in an external company. The cost of this investment was
impaired in the Company’s books and records in a prior year.
Net
income. As a result of the foregoing, our net income for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 was US$6.9 million, compared to a net income
of
US$1.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.
Revenues.
Total revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 increased by 48%
to
US$18.7 million from US$12.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2005.
This increase was principally attributable to an increase in revenues from
our
India Online business and, to a lesser degree, the increase in revenues from
our
U.S. Publishing business.
India
Online business. We recognized US$12.2 million in revenues from our India
Online business for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 as compared to US$6.6
million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, representing an increase
of
US$5.6 million, or 86%, over the previous fiscal year. The increase in revenue
was mainly due to increases in:
·
|
advertising
revenues by US$4.37 million, primarily as a result of an increase
in
Internet advertising in India; and
|
·
|
fee-based
services by US$1.25 million due to an increase in revenues from
our
subscription services, mobile services and our online shopping
marketplace. This resulted from a greater number of users and greater
usage of these services.
|
U.S.
Publishing business. We recognized US$6.5 million in revenues for the U.S.
Publishing business for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, as compared
to
US$6.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005,
representing
an increase of US$0.46 million, or 7.5%, over the previous fiscal year. The
increase in revenues was primarily due to increase in advertising revenues
from
our Rediff India Abroad website.
Cost
of revenues. Cost of revenues primarily includes cost of content for the
Rediff websites, editorial costs, printing and circulation costs for the
India
Abroad newspaper, e-commerce marketplace related costs and related salaries.
For
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, cost of revenues was US$5.0 million,
or
27% of total revenues, compared to US$5.1 million, or 40% of total revenues
during the previous fiscal year. The decline in cost of revenues was
primarily due to a decrease of US$0.07 million, or 2%, during fiscal 2006
in
circulation expenses for our U.S. Publishing business compared to fiscal
2005.
Sales
and marketing expenses. Sales and marketing expenses primarily include
employee compensation for sales and marketing personnel, advertising and
promotion expenses and market research costs. For the fiscal year ended March
31, 2006, sales and marketing expenses were US$3.5 million, compared to US$2.3
million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, representing an increase
of
US$1.2 million, or 53%, over the previous fiscal year. The increase was
attributable to an increase in advertising and publicity costs as we continued
to invest in promoting our brand and services, as well as an increase in
Indian
sales and marketing costs due to an increase in staff. The increase in
advertising revenues in fiscal 2006 also led to a corresponding increase
in
incentive payments to sales employees during fiscal 2006.
Product
development expenses. Product development costs primarily include internet
communication costs, software usage fees, software development expenses and
compensation to product development personnel. For the fiscal year ended
March
31, 2006, product development expenses were US$2.6 million compared to US$1.8
million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, representing an increase
of
US$0.8 million, or 41%. The increase was primarily due to increase in bandwidth
charges by US$0.2 million, an increase in product development charges by
US$0.2
million and an increase in salary costs by US$0.2 million.
We
expect to continue to invest in product development to maintain our position
as
a leading Internet destination for the global Indian community. Therefore,
we
expect our product development expenses in absolute dollar terms to increase
in
the future.
General
and administrative expenses. General and administrative costs primarily
consist of compensation for administrative personnel, fees for legal and
professional services, allowances for doubtful accounts, insurance premia,
depreciation and sundry administrative costs. For the fiscal year ended March
31, 2006, general and administrative expenses were US$6.6 million compared
to
US$5.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, representing an
increase of US$1.5 million, or 30%. This increase was primarily due to an
increase of US$0.7 million in depreciation expense, primarily as a result
of an
increase in capital expenditure during fiscal 2006, as well as an increase
of
US$0.1 million in repair and maintenance costs, an increase of US$0.2 million
on
account of provision for doubtful debts and an increase of US$0.3 million
in
salary costs. We expect that as we continue to grow, our general and
administrative expenses will increase in the future.
Other
income (loss), net. Other income (loss), net primarily consists of interest
income and foreign exchange gain or loss. During the fiscal year ended March
31,
2006, other income (net) was US$0.25 million compared to US$0.53 million
for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, representing a decrease of US$0.28 million.
Interest income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 was US$1.23 million,
compared to US$0.52 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005,
representing an increase of US$0.71 million, or 136%. The increase in interest
income was due primarily due to interest on the net proceeds from our follow-on
ADS offering in November 2005 and, to a lesser extent, higher applicable
interest rates for our Rupee-denominated deposits during the fiscal year
ended
March 31, 2006 as compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. However,
in
fiscal 2006 we incurred a foreign exchange loss of US$0.98 million, compared
to
a foreign exchange gain of US$5,000 in fiscal 2005, arising from the conversion
of U.S. dollar amounts held by us to our functional currency for financial
reporting purposes (i.e., the Indian Rupee), due to the strengthening of
the
Indian Rupee against the U.S. dollar.
Net
income (loss). As a result of the foregoing, our net income for
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 was US$1.2 million, compared to a net
loss
of US$1.4 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005.
Seasonality
Given
the early stage of the development of the Internet in India, the rapidly
evolving nature of our business and our limited operating history, we cannot
accurately predict to what extent, if at all, our operations will prove to
be
seasonal.
Liquidity
and Capital Expenditures
Our
primary liquidity needs have been to finance our losses from operations,
acquisitions and capital expenditures. These have been funded primarily from
the
private sales of equity securities, sale of ADSs and from cash received from
our
operations.
For
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, we incurred a net loss of US$1.4 million
and for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2006 and 2007, we earned net income
of
US$1.2 million and US$6.9 million, respectively. Although we earned profits
in
fiscal years 2006 and 2007, primarily due to increased revenues, we may in
the
future incur net losses and negative cash flows from operations, which would
require us to continue to use the proceeds from the sale of our equity
securities and ADSs to fund our operations and capital
expenditures.
As
of March 31, 2007, our accounts receivable balance was US$10.7 million compared
to US$5.4 million as of March 31, 2006, net of allowances of US$2.7 million
and
US$1.8 million as of March 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. This increase
was
principally due to the increase in our revenues. During the fiscal years
ended
March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007, we had write-offs or provided allowances of
US$0.2 million, US$0.4 million, and US$0.9 million, for delinquent trade
receivables, respectively. These write-offs and allowances constituted 1.7%,
2.1%, and 3.3% of total revenues, respectively in those years.
Cash
Flows
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
cash (used in) generated from operating activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
from continuing operations
|
US$144,073
|
|
US$1,663,403
|
|
US$6,544,790
|
-
from discontinued operations
|
(509,568)
|
|
13,737
|
|
--
|
Total
|
(365,495)
|
|
1,677,140
|
|
6,544,790
|
Net
cash used in investing activities
|
(1,424,091)
|
|
(4,584,734)
|
|
(8,248,943)
|
Net
cash generated from financing activities
|
302,925
|
|
45,145,582
|
|
482,915
|
Effect
of exchange rate changes on cash
|
(83,156)
|
|
786,291
|
|
1,673,903
|
Net
(decrease)/increase in cash and cash
equivalents
|
US$(1,569,817)
|
|
US$43,024,279
|
|
US$452,665
|
Net
cash generated from continuing operations of US$6.5 million during the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2007 was principally attributable to net income of US$6.9
million, primarily due to an increase in advertising and fee based revenues.
Non-cash items of depreciation, amortization, allowances for doubtful debts
and
stock-based compensation cost totaled US$7.0 million due to increased capital
expenditures and adoption of SFAS.123R. This was offset by an
increase in working capital of US$4.9 million, which increase was primarily
due
to an increase in gross accounts receivable of US$6.2 million and an increase
in
recoverable income taxes of US$1.3 million which was partially offset by
an
increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of US$1.9
million.
Net
cash used in investing activities during the fiscal year ended March 31,
2007
was US$8.2 million, consisting principally of purchases of servers and other
capital equipment aggregating to US$7.8 million in connection with the expansion
of our network and data storage facility.
Net
cash provided by financing activities during the fiscal year ended March
31,
2007 was US$0.5 million, which represented the net cash proceeds from our
employee stock options exercised during the year.
As
of March 31, 2007, we had aggregate commitments for capital expenditures
of
approximately US$53,257.
Net
cash generated from continuing operations of US$1.7 million during the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2006 was principally attributable to the net income
for the
year of US$1.2 million, primarily due to an increase in advertising and fee
based revenues. Non-cash items of depreciation and amortization totaled US$1.5
million due to increased capital expenditures. This was offset by an increase
in
working capital of US$1.1 million, which increase was primarily due to an
increase in accounts receivable of US$2.3 million which was partially offset
by
an increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of US$0.8 million
and an
increase in customer advances and unearned revenues of US$0.5
million.
Net
cash used in investing activities during the fiscal year ended March 31,
2006
was US$4.6 million, consisting principally of purchases of servers and other
capital equipment in connection with the expansion of our network.
Net
cash provided by financing activities during the fiscal year ended March
31,
2006 was US$45 million, which represented net cash proceeds from our follow-on
offering of ADSs in November 2005 and from employee stock options exercised
during the year.
As
of March 31, 2006, we had aggregate commitments for capital expenditures
of
approximately US$0.11 million.
Net
cash generated from continuing operations of US$144,000 during the year ended
March 31, 2005 was principally attributable to the reduction of our net loss
from continuing operations to US$1.2million, which included non-cash items
of
depreciation and amortization of US$0.7 million. This was achieved through
a
combination of improvement in our revenues, control over our expenditures
and
better working capital management. Other significant contributors included
an
increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of US$2.1 million, an
increase in unearned revenues of US$0.3 million, and decrease in other assets
of
US$0.3 million. These were partially offset by an increase in accounts
receivable of US$1.2 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current
assets of US$0.7 million and increase in recoverable income taxes of US$0.1
million.
Net
cash used in investing activities during the fiscal year ended March 31,
2005
was US$1.4 million, consisting principally of purchases of computers and
other
capital equipment in connection with the expansion of our network which was
partially offset by cash inflows from the sale of ValuCom phone card
business.
Net
cash provided by financing activities during the fiscal year ended March
31,
2005 was US$303,000, which represented cash received for employee stock options
exercised during the year.
As
of March 31, 2005, we had aggregate commitments for capital expenditures
of
approximately US$450,144.
Contractual
Obligations
Our
contractual obligations relate to operating leases and capital commitment,
payments for which are to be made as per the table below:
|
|
|
|
|
2008
|
|
US$477,529
|
|
US$53,257
|
2009
|
|
295,998
|
|
--
|
2010
|
|
5,503
|
|
---
|
2011
and
thereafter
|
|
|
|
|
Total
payments
|
|
|
|
|
Capital
Expenditures
Our
principal capital expenditures are for purchases of computer equipment, such
as
servers for our websites and leasehold improvements. In fiscal 2007, 2006
and
2005, we had capital expenditures of US$7.8 million, US$4.6 million and US$1.8
million, respectively.
Dividends
We
have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our equity shares since our
inception and do not expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable
future. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance
the
expansion of our business. For additional information, please see the sections
of this annual report entitled “Risk Factors – Risks Related to our Business”
and “Taxation”.
We
believe our cash balances and liquid assets, cash generated from future
operations and our existing credit facilities will be adequate to satisfy
anticipated working capital requirements, capital expenditures and investment
commitments for the next twelve months. As business and market conditions
permit, we may from time to time, invest in or acquire complementary businesses,
products or technologies. These activities may require us to seek additional
equity or debt to fund financing such activities, which could result in
ownership dilution to existing shareholders, including holders of our
ADSs.
Income
Tax Matters
As
of March 31, 2007, we had net operating loss carry forwards for our Indian
operations aggregating approximately US$14.4 million, which will expire between
April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2014. We also have unabsorbed
depreciation carry forwards as of March 31, 2007 aggregating approximately
US$7.1 million.
As
of March 31, 2007, Rediff Holdings, Inc., our U.S. subsidiary and the holding
company of our Rediff.com, Inc. and India Abroad Publications, Inc. investments,
had net operating loss carryforward of approximately US$5.8 million for federal
income tax purposes. These net operating loss carryforwards expire in years
2020
through 2025.
As
of March 31, 2007, ValuCom had a net operating loss carryforward of
approximately US$2.9 million. This loss will expire in years 2021 through
2025.
Following the sale of its phone-card business to WQN in April 2004, ValuCom
currently does not engage in any business activity.
Whether
we will be able to realize the future tax benefits related to the deferred
income tax asset is dependent on many factors, including our ability to generate
taxable income within the net operating loss carry forward period. Management
considered these factors and believed that a full valuation allowance of
the
deferred tax assets was required for the period presented.
For
the years ended March 31, 2006 and 2007, the provision for current income
taxes
was approximately US$18,000 and US$83,000, respectively.
Market
Risks
Foreign
Currency Exchange Rate Risk
The
functional currency for our Indian operations is the Indian Rupee. We are
exposed to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, principally relating
to
the fluctuation of the U.S. dollar to Indian Rupee exchange rate. We face
foreign currency exchange risk with respect to funds held in foreign currencies
and in particular will have foreign exchange losses with respect to these
funds
if there is an appreciation in the value of the Indian Rupee compared to
such
foreign currency. We also face foreign currency exchange risk from accounts
payable to overseas vendors, which we partially mitigate with receipts in
foreign currency from overseas customers and balances in foreign currency
with
overseas banks.
While
we hold a major portion of our cash and cash equivalents in Indian Rupee
denominated bank accounts, we still hold a portion of the net proceeds from
our
November 2005 follow-on ADS offering in a U.S. dollar-denominated bank account.
The following table sets forth information about our net foreign currency
exchange (U.S. dollars) exposure as of March 31, 2007:
|
|
|
|
|
|
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
payable in U.S. dollars
|
|
|
232
|
|
Accounts
receivable in U.S. dollars, net of allowance
|
|
|
140
|
|
Cash
balances held in U.S.
dollars
|
|
|
|
|
Net
foreign currency exchange
exposure
|
|
|
|
|
We
do not currently try to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange
rate
fluctuations by using hedging transactions. However, we may choose to do
so in
the future. We may not be able to do this successfully. Accordingly, we may
experience economic losses and negative impacts on earnings and equity as
a
result of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. If the Indian Rupee
appreciates against the U.S. dollars by one Rupee, the net foreign currency
exchange loss as of March 31, 2007 would be approximately
US$141,000.
Interest
Rate Risk
We
hold interest-bearing accounts in India as well as outside India and
fluctuations in interest rates affected our interest earnings for the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2007. These interest rates are linked to the interest
rates
prevailing in India and the United States. We expect that our interest earnings
will continue to be affected in the future by fluctuations in interest rates.
A
hypothetical 10% increase or decrease in the prevailing interest rates
applicable to cash deposits during such period would have affected our interest
income by approximately US$370,000.
Off-balance
sheet arrangements
As
of the date of this annual report, we are not a party to any off-balance
sheet
obligations or arrangements.
New
accounting pronouncements
In
July 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued
interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes – an
interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”). FIN 48
applies to all tax positions within the scope of FASB Statement No. 109 and
clarifies when and how to recognize tax benefits in the financial statements
with a two-step approach of recognition and measurement. FIN 48 is effective
for
fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. FIN 48 also requires the
enterprise to make explicit disclosures about uncertainties in their income
tax
positions, including a detailed roll forward of tax benefits taken that do
not
qualify for financial statement recognition. Differences between the amounts
recognized in the statements of financial position prior to the adoption
of FIN
48 and the amounts reported after adoption should be accounted for as a
cumulative-effect adjustment recorded to the beginning balance of retained
earnings. We have evaluated the impact of this pronouncement and do not believe
that adoption of FIN 48 on April 1, 2007 will have a material effect on our
financial position, cash flows or results of operations.
In
September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157 “Fair Value
Measurements”. This Statement defines fair value, establishes a framework for
measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP),
and
expands disclosures about fair value measurements. This Statement is effective
for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after
November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We
are currently evaluating the impact, if any, the adoption of
SFAS No. 157 will have on its financial reporting and
disclosures.
In
February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair
Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities”
(“SFAS No. 159”). SFAS No. 159 permits entities to choose to measure
many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. The objective
is to improve financial reporting by providing entities with the opportunity
to
mitigate volatility in reported earnings caused by measuring related assets
and
liabilities differently without having to apply complex hedge accounting
provisions. This Statement is expected to expand the use of fair value
measurement, which is consistent with the Board’s long-term measurement
objectives for accounting for financial instruments. The fair value option
established by this Statement permits all entities to choose to measure
eligible
items at fair value at specified election dates. This standard is effective
for
fiscal years ending on or after November 15, 2007. We are currently
evaluating the impact, if any, the adoption of SFAS No. 159 will have on
its financial reporting and disclosures.
MANAGEMENT
The
following table sets forth, as of
August 16, 2007, the name, age and position of each of our directors and
executive officers.
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
|
|
|
Ajit
Balakrishnan(1)(2)
|
59
|
Chairman
and Managing Director
|
Joy
Basu
|
46
|
Chief
Financial Officer
|
Diwan
Arun Nanda(1)(2)
|
63
|
Director
|
Sunil
N. Phatarphekar(1)(2)(3)
|
43
|
Director
|
Pulak
Prasad(1)
|
39
|
Director
|
Ashok
Narasimhan(1)
|
59
|
Director
|
Sridar
Iyengar(1)(3)
|
60
|
Director
|
Rashesh
C. Shah(1)
(3)
|
44
|
Director
|
|
(1)
|
Member
of the Board of Directors
|
|
(2)
|
Member
of the Compensation Committee
|
|
(3)
|
Member
of the Audit Committee
|
Ajit
Balakrishnan is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of the
Company. Mr. Balakrishnan is also a Director of Rediffusion Dentsu Young
&
Rubicam Private Limited, India Abroad Publications, Inc., India In New York,
Inc., India Abroad Publications (Canada) Inc., Value Communications Corporation,
VuBites India Private Limited and Ajit Balakrishnan Foundation. Mr. Balakrishnan
is also the Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Indian Institute of
Management Calcutta and Chairman of the Working Group of Internet
Governance set up by the Government of India. Mr. Balakrishnan holds a
Bachelors degree in Physics from Kerala University and a Post Graduate Diploma
in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. Mr.
Balakrishnan’s initial term of appointment as Managing Director of the Company
expired on August 24, 2003. At our Annual General Meeting held on September
29,
2003, our shareholders re-appointed Mr. Balakrishnan for an additional five-year
term as Managing Director with effect from August 24, 2003.
Joy
Basu has been our Chief Financial Officer since September 2003, having
joined us in April 2003. From October 2002 to April 2003, he served as Chief
Financial Officer of Sahara India Media Communication Limited. From April
2000
to September 2002, he served with the Sterlite Group of Companies, primarily
as
Chief Financial Officer of Sterlite Optical Technologies-Limited. From 1993
to
2000 he served with the RPG Group of companies, where the last position he
held
was General Manager - Strategic Planning. From 1986 to 1993 he served with
the
Tata Group in various capacities. Mr. Basu holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce
(Honors) from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University. He is also a member of
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has attended the Senior
Executive Course at the Manchester Business School, U.K on a British Chevening
Scholarship. He has been awarded the India CFO Award 2006 for “Excellence in
Finance in an SME” instituted by IMA India.
Diwan
Arun Nanda has been a director of the Company since its incorporation
in 1996. Mr. Nanda is also a Director of Rediffusion Dentsu, Young & Rubicam
Private Ltd., Wunderman India Private Limited, Rediffusion Dentsu, Young
&
Rubicam Pvt. Ltd. Srilanka, Everest Brand Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Clariant
Chemicals (India) Limited, Eveready Industries India Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines
Limited and Mastek Limited. Mr. Nanda is also a director of several other
Indian
companies. Mr. Nanda holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College,
Chennai University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Sunil
N. Phatarphekar has been a director of the Company since 1998. Mr.
Phatarphekar is the proprietor of SNP Legal (Advocates), a Mumbai law firm.
Mr.
Phatarphekar earlier was a partner of Doijode, Phatarphekar & Associates, a
Mumbai law firm. After obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Jai Hind
College, Bombay University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Government Law
College, Bombay University, he joined Crawford Bayley & Company, a Mumbai
law firm. Thereafter, he was a partner at two Mumbai law firms, Mahimtura
&
Co. and Shah Desai Doijode & Phatarphekar. Mr. Phatarphekar is also a
director of several other Indian companies.
Pulak
Prasad has been a director of the Company since 1999. He is the Founder
and Managing Director of Nalanda Capital, a Singapore based fund
management and advisory company. He is also a Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Prior to creating Nalanda, Mr. Prasad was Managing Director and co-head of
the
India office of Warburg Pincus, covering their India, South and South East
Asian
operations. He joined Warburg Pincus in 1998. From 1992 to 1998, he was a
management consultant with McKinsey & Company in India, USA and South
Africa. Mr. Prasad holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology from the Indian
Institute of Technology, New Delhi and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management
from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Ashok
Narasimhan has been a director of the Company since 2002. He is
currently Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of July Systems & Technologies Pvt.
Ltd. He is also limited partner, advisor, and board member for a number of
U.S.
venture capital funds. He is also a director on the board of Tarang Software
Technologies Pvt. Limited, Genie Technologies India Pvt. Limited, Avendus
Advisors Private Limited, Atma Investments and Resources Pvt. Limited. He
was
earlier founder of Prio, Inc., where he served as Chairman and CEO from early
1996 until its merger with InfoSpace. He subsequently served on the board
of
Infospace. Prior to this, he served as Head of Worldwide Marketing and Business
Development of VeriFone, a leader in automated electronic payment transactions.
Earlier, he was the founding President of Wipro’s IT organizations. He holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Madras University and a Post-Graduate Diploma
in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
Sridar
A. Iyengar has been a director of the Company since September 2004. He
serves on the Board of Infosys Technologies Limited, a NASDAQ-listed company,
Infosys BPO Limited, Rediff Holdings, Inc. (USA), Mango Analytics Inc, OnMobile
Asia Pacific Pvt. Ltd, Kovair Software Inc. and ICICI Bank Ltd, which is
an
NYSE-listed company, and also advises many early-stage technology companies
in
the United States and India. He is also a member of the boards of the
American India Foundation and the Foundation for Democratic Reforms in India.
From 1968 until his retirement in March 2002, he was employed by KPMG, retiring
as the Partner-in-Charge of KPMG's Emerging Business Practice. He worked
as a
partner in all three of KPMG's regions - Europe, America and Asia Pacific
- as
well as in all four of KPMG's functional disciplines - assurance, tax,
consulting and financial advisory services. He was Chairman and CEO of KPMG's
India operations between 1997 and 2000 and during that period was a member
of
the Executive Board of KPMG's Asia Pacific practice. Prior to that, he headed
up
the International Services practice in the West Coast of USA. On his return
from
India in 2000 he was asked to lead a major effort of KPMG focused on delivering
audit and advisory services to early stage companies. He also served as a
member
of the Audit Strategy group of KPMG LLP. He is a Fellow of the Institute
of
Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, holds a Bachelor's Degree in
Commerce (Honors) from the University of Calcutta and has attended the Executive
Education course at Stanford University.
Rashesh
C. Shah has been a director of the Company since April 2006. Mr. Shah
is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Edelweiss
Capital Limited. Edelweiss Capital is a leading financial services company
based
in Mumbai, India, whose businesses include investment banking, securities
and
commodities broking, insurance advisory and equities investments. Mr. Shah
holds
a Bachelors degree in Science from Bombay University and a Post Graduate
Diploma
in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Previously,
he
was Head of Research, Prime Securities and a Manager at
ICICI Limited. He has also handled a World Bank aided
program for export-oriented projects at ICICI. Mr. Shah has 18 years of
experience in public and private markets in India and has worked with more
than
100 companies and advised them on a wide range of issues, financial and
non-financial. He has served on various client company boards including the
compensation and audit committees of such companies.
Board
Composition
On
March 16, 2000, we amended our Articles of Association. Our Amended Articles
of
Association set the minimum number of directors at three and the maximum
number
of directors at seven. We currently have seven directors. Our Articles of
Association provide as follows:
·
|
Ajit
Balakrishnan, Diwan Arun Nanda and Rediffusion Holdings Private
Limited
(earlier called Rediffusion Advertising Private Limited), are entitled
to
appoint and have appointed Mr. Balakrishnan as Director on the
Board and
Chairman of Rediff.com India Ltd. so long as they hold not less
than 10.0%
of the issued, subscribed and paid up capital of Rediff.com India
Ltd. Mr.
Balakrishnan serves an indefinite term and is not required to retire
by
rotation.
|
·
|
The
remaining directors on the Board of Directors are non-permanent
directors
who are appointed by shareholders and retire by rotation. Pulak
Prasad and Ashok Narasimhan retired by rotation and were re-elected
by the
shareholders at our last annual general meeting held on September
29,
2006. Diwan Arun Nanda and Sunil Phatarphekar will retire by rotation
at
our next Annual General Meeting of shareholders, which is scheduled
for
September 21, 2007.
|
As
of the date of this annual report, our Board has determined that the following
members qualify as independent directors: Sunil N. Phatarphekar; Ashok
Narasimhan; Sridar A. Iyengar; and Rashesh C. Shah.
Code
of Ethics
Effective
February 15, 2004, we adopted codes of ethics for all of our employees and
for
all of our directors and senior officers in accordance with the provisions
of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. On July 19, 2005, we adopted amendments to
the
code of ethics for our officers. On August 19, 2005, we adopted amendments
to
the code of ethics for our directors.
We
will provide a copy of the codes of ethics for our directors, officers and
employees to any person without charge, upon a written request sent to our
principal executive office.
Audit
Committee
The
audit committee of the Board of Directors reviews, acts on and reports to
the
Board of Directors with respect to various auditing and accounting matters,
including the recommendation of our independent auditors, the scope of the
annual audits, fees to be paid to the independent auditors, the performance
of
our independent auditors and our accounting practices.
As
of the date of this annual report, our audit committee is comprised of the
following members, all of whom are independent directors: Sridar A. Iyengar;
Sunil N. Phatarphekar; and Rashesh C. Shah.
Effective
May 11, 2007, Ashok Narasimhan resigned as a member of the audit committee,
although he continues to serve on the Board of Directors.
Audit
Committee Financial Expert
Mr.
Sridar A. Iyengar has been designated the independent audit committee financial
expert. Prior to his appointment as a member of our Board of Directors, Mr.
Iyengar was a partner at KPMG, retiring in March 2002 as Partner-in-Charge
of
KPMG’s Emerging Business Practice.
Compensation
Committee
The
Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors administers our stock option
plans. The members of the Compensation Committee are Ajit Balakrishnan, Diwan
Arun Nanda and Sunil N. Phatarphekar.
NASDAQ
Corporate Governance Requirements
In
general, corporate governance principles for Indian companies whose shares
are
not traded on any Indian stock exchange are set forth in the Companies Act.
Corporate governance principles under provisions of Indian law may differ
in
significant ways from corporate governance standards for U.S. NASDAQ-listed
companies. Under the latest amendment to the NASD Marketplace Rule 4350(a)(1),
foreign private issuers such as ourselves are permitted to follow certain
home
country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain of the requirements
of
Rule 4350. Under the amendment, foreign private issuers must disclose
alternative home country practices they follow.
The
following are the requirements of Rule 4350 we do not follow and the home
country practices we follow in lieu of these Rule 4350 requirements. Our
independent Indian counsel has submitted to the NASDAQ a letter, dated June
27,
2005, certifying that our corporate governance practices as described below
are
not prohibited by and are consistent with Indian law.
|
(i)
|
Rule
4350(b)(2) and Rule 4350 (b)(3) - Distribution of quarterly and
interim
reports
|
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule 4350(b)(2) and Rule 4350(b)(3), we follow
Indian law, under which companies whose shares are not traded on any Indian
stock exchange are not required to prepare and/or distribute quarterly and
interim reports to shareholders. However, we have in the past regularly released
copies of press releases and conference call transcripts relating to our
quarterly results of operations by posting them on our website. Further,
we
furnish press releases relating to our quarterly results of operations with
the
SEC on Form 6-K and we currently intend to continue to do so.
|
(ii)
|
Rule
4350(c)(1) - Independent
Directors
|
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule 4350(c)(1), we follow the Companies Act,
which
does not require that a majority of the Board of Directors of Indian companies
be comprised of independent directors. Nevertheless, as of the date
of this annual report, our Board has determined that four out of its seven
members are independent.
|
(iii)
|
Rule
4350(c)(2) - Executive sessions of Independent
Directors
|
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule 4350(c)(2), we follow the Companies Act,
which
does not require independent directors to hold regularly scheduled meetings
at
which only such independent directors are present (i.e., executive sessions).
Under the Companies Act, our Board of Directors as a whole is responsible
for
monitoring our business, although it is permitted to delegate specific
responsibilities to designated directors or to non-director executive
officers.
|
(iv)
|
Rule
4350(c)(3) - Compensation of
Officers
|
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule
4350(c)(3), we follow Indian law, which requires companies to form a
Compensation Committee in case of remuneration payable to specified managerial
personnel by companies having no profits or inadequate profits. In such a
case,
a “Remuneration Committee” is required to be constituted for approving the
payment of remuneration to certain specified “managerial personnel” as defined
in the Companies Act. Such Remuneration Committee, if constituted for this
purpose, should consist of at least three non-executive independent directors
including nominee directors, if any. For purposes of the Companies Act
“managerial personnel” include the company’s managing director, whole time
director and manager, each as defined under the Companies Act.
We
do not pay and currently do not intend to pay any remuneration to any of
our
managerial personnel as defined in the Companies Act. As such, we are not
required to constitute a Remuneration Committee under the Companies Act.
However
our Board of Directors has formed a compensation committee, which currently
comprises of three directors including one independent director, for the
sole
purpose of administering our stock option plans and other compensation plans
as
may be approved by our shareholders from time to time.
Three
of our directors, Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan, Mr. Sridar Iyengar and Mr. Sunil
Phatarphekar, receive remuneration from our wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary
Rediff
Holdings, Inc., in their capacity as directors of that subsidiary. There
is no
restriction under Indian law on paying remuneration to directors of an Indian
company having no profits or inadequate profits who are, at the same time,
also
directors of a non-Indian subsidiary.
|
(v)
|
Rule
4350(c)(4) - Nomination of
Directors
|
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule 4350(c)(4), we follow the requirements of
the
Companies Act pursuant to which directors are required to be appointed by
shareholders at their general meeting. In addition, under the Companies Act,
our
board can make appointments, subject to any regulations in a company’s articles
of association, to fill any casual vacancies caused if the office of a director
is vacated before his term of office has expired. Any person so appointed
shall
hold office only up to the date up to which the director in whose place he
is
appointed would have held office. Our board also has the power to appoint
additional directors who shall hold office only up to the date of our next
annual general meeting of the company. The Companies Act also allows our
board
to appoint an alternate director to act for a director during his absence
for a
period of not less than three months from the state in which the board meetings
are ordinarily held. Finally, our Articles of Association states that Ajit
Balakrishnan, Diwan Arun Nanda and Rediffusion Holdings Private Limited (earlier
called Rediffusion Advertising Private Limited), are entitled to appoint
and
have appointed Mr. Balakrishnan as Director on the Board and Chairman of
Rediff.com India Ltd. so long as they hold not less than 10.0% of the issued,
subscribed and paid up capital of Rediff.com India Ltd. Mr. Balakrishnan
serves
an indefinite term and is not required to retire by rotation.
(vi) Rule
4350(f) - Quorum
In
lieu of the requirements of Rule 4350(f), we follow the Companies Act, under
which a quorum for purposes of a meeting of the holders of our common stock
is
considered present as long as five of our members are present in
person.
|
(vii)
|
Rule
4350(g) - Solicitation of
Proxies
|
As
a foreign private issuer, we are not subject to Regulations 14A and 14C under
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As such, in lieu of
the
requirements of Rule 4350(g), we follow the requirements of the Companies
Act.
Section 176 of the Companies Act prohibits a company incorporated thereunder,
such as us, from soliciting proxies. Because we are prohibited from soliciting
proxies under Indian law, we will not meet the proxy solicitation requirement
of
Rule 4350(g). However, in accordance with Indian law, we give written notices
of
all our shareholder meetings (containing a statement that a shareholder is
entitled to appoint a proxy, or, where that is allowed, one or more proxies,
to
attend and vote instead of himself, and that a proxy need not be a member)
to
all our shareholders and we also furnish such notices with the SEC under
Form
6-K.
Other
than as noted above, we intend to comply with all other applicable NASDAQ
corporate governance standards.
Employees
As
of March 31, 2007, we had 293 employees and full-time consultants. Of such
employees, 111 are in our sales and marketing teams, 75 are creative and
editorial, 46 are dedicated to technology and product development, 23 are
dedicated to e-commerce, 12 are dedicated to production and circulation and
26
are administrative. We believe that our relationship with our employees is
good.
The table sets forth the distribution of our employees by geographic location
of
our facilities and by department:
Department
|
Mumbai
|
Other
Indian cities
|
United
States
|
Total
|
Creative
|
9
|
5
|
--
|
14
|
Editorial
|
46
|
6
|
9
|
61
|
Production
and
Circulation
|
--
|
--
|
12
|
12
|
Sales
and
Marketing
|
80
|
21
|
10
|
111
|
Technology
and Product Development
|
44
|
--
|
2
|
46
|
E-Commerce
|
22
|
1
|
--
|
23
|
Administration
and
others
|
19
|
1
|
6
|
26
|
Total
|
220
|
34
|
39
|
293
|
Compensation
Our
Articles of Association provide that each of our directors may receive an
attendance fee for every Board and Committee meeting, provided that no director
shall be entitled to an attendance fee in excess of Rs.2,000 per meeting.
In
fiscal year 2007, we did not pay any fees to our non-employee directors.
Mr.
Ajit Balakrishnan, who is our Managing Director, does not receive any additional
compensation for his service on our Board of Directors. Directors of our
U.S.
subsidiaries receive compensation for their service on the boards of these
subsidiaries.
The
following table sets forth details regarding:
|
(i) |
compensation
paid to executive officers and directors of the Company during the
fiscal
year ended March 31, 2007; and |
|
|
|
|
(ii) |
Equity
Shares arising out of warrants granted to such officers and directors
under the ESOP during the fiscal year ended March 31,
2007. |
Name
|
Salary
and other compensation
|
Equity
Shares arising out of options granted during the
year
|
Expiration
date
|
|
|
No.
of shares granted under 2006 ESOP plan
|
Grant
price per share (Rs.)
|
No.
of shares granted under 2006 ADR ESOP plan
|
Grant
price per share (US$)
|
|
Ajit
Balakrishnan
|
US175,000(1)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joy
Basu
|
92,010(2)
|
4,000
|
10
|
9,500
|
26.16
|
October 2016
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sridar
A. Iyengar
|
25,000(1)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunil
Phatarphekar
|
10,000(1)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(1)
|
Each
of Mr. Balakrishnan, Mr. Iyengar and Mr. Phatarphekar receive a
salary
from Rediff Holdings, Inc., our wholly-owned U.S.-incorporated
subsidiary,
in their capacity as directors of Rediff Holdings, Inc. None of
them
receive any salary from Rediff.com India
Limited.
|
(2)
|
This
does not include the fair value of stock options granted to Mr.
Basu.
|
Employee
Benefit Plans
Employee
Stock Option Plan 1999
Our
1999 Employee Stock Option Plan (the “1999 ESOP”), allows for the grant to our
employees of warrants to purchase our Equity Shares. Each warrant granted
gives
the employee the right to purchase a specified number of our Equity Shares
under
the 1999 ESOP. The 1999 ESOP was approved by our Board of Directors in August
1998 and by our shareholders in February 1999. A total of 280,000 Equity
Shares,
after giving effect to our 2 for 5 reverse share split effective as of May
3,
2000, were reserved for issuance under the 1999 ESOP. As of March 31, 2000,
we
had granted, under the 1999 ESOP, warrants, equivalent to the right to purchase
232,300 Equity Shares, after giving effect to our 2 for 5 reverse share split
effective as of May 3, 2000, at a weighted average exercise price of US$6.53
(Rs.285) per share. From April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002, we had granted
additional warrants equivalent to the right to purchase 19,000 Equity Shares
at
a weighted average exercise price of US$2.25 (Rs.108) per share under the
1999
ESOP. During the same period, there was a forfeiture of warrants, equivalent
to
13,450 Equity Shares from the employees who had left the Company. During
the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, warrants equivalent to 12,900 Equity Shares
were forfeited due to the resignation of employees. During the fiscal year
ended
March 31, 2004, we granted additional warrants equivalent to the right to
purchase 7,500 Equity Shares and during the same period, warrants equivalent
to
22,975 Equity Shares were forfeited due to resignation of employees. During
the
fiscal years ended March 31, 2006 and 2007, we granted additional warrants
equivalent to the right to purchase 30,000 Equity Shares and during the same
period, warrants equivalent to 7,750 Equity Shares were forfeited due to
resignation of employees.
Unless
otherwise determined by the Board of Directors, the warrants granted under
the
1999 ESOP vest at a rate of 25% on each successive anniversary of the grant
date, until fully vested. Equity shares acquired pursuant to the 1999 ESOP
are
subject to a four-year lock-up period from the date of grant of the respective
warrants. In the case of termination of the employee, the employee shall
have
the right to exercise only the warrants vested up to the time of termination,
and the unvested warrants shall lapse. In the case of death, incapacitation,
or
retirement at the normal retirement age of an employee, all warrants granted
to
him or her shall vest in full either on the employee or his or her legal
heirs,
as appropriate. The period during which vested warrants may be exercised
expires
five years after the date of grant.
On
January 16, 2006, our Compensation Committee terminated the 1999 ESOP, without
prejudice to the interest of participants in the 1999 ESOP who have already
been
granted options under it
Associate
Stock Option Plan 1999
We
have an Associate Stock Option Plan 1999 (the “1999 ASOP”), which allows for the
grant to our associates, such as key vendors, software developers, retainers,
consultants, and all other persons or legal entities not eligible to participate
in the 1999 ESOP, of warrants to purchase our Equity Shares. Each warrant
granted gives the associate the right to purchase a specified number of our
Equity Shares under the 1999 ASOP. The 1999 ASOP was approved by our Board
of
Directors and our shareholders in February 1999. A total of 198,000
Equity
Shares,
after giving effect to our 2 for 5 reverse share split effective as of May
3,
2000, were reserved for issuance under the 1999 ASOP. As of March 31, 2000,
we
had granted warrants under the 1999 ASOP, equivalent to the right to purchase
73,600 Equity Shares, after giving effect to our 2 for 5 reverse share split
effective as of May 3, 2000, at a weighted average exercise price of US$11.73
per share. From April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 there was a fresh issuance
of
warrants equivalent to 1000 Equity Shares to Associates at the rate of US$2.25
under the 1999 ASOP. During the same period, there was a forfeiture of warrants,
equivalent to 5,750 Equity Shares from the associates who had terminated
their
association with Rediff. Warrants equivalent to 28,000 Equity Shares were
issued
on January 1, 2003 at an exercise price of US$2.26 to three of our Directors.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 we granted warrants equivalent
to
the right to purchase 6,000 Equity Shares at a weighted average exercise
price
of US$15.11 per share.
The
warrants granted under the 1999 ASOP vest at rates set forth on each warrant.
Equity shares acquired pursuant to the 1999 ASOP are subject to a four-year
lock-up period from the date of grant of the respective warrants. In the
case of
termination of the relationship, the associate shall have the right to exercise
only the warrants vested up to the time of termination, and the unvested
warrants shall lapse. In the case of death of the associate, all warrants
granted to him or her shall vest in full on his or her legal heirs, as
appropriate. The period during which vested warrants may be exercised expires
five years after the date of grant.
On
January 16, 2006, our Compensation Committee terminated the 1999 ASOP, without
prejudice to the interest of participants in the 1999 ASOP who have already
been
granted options under it.
ValuCom
Stock Option Plans
On
April 1, 2000, ValuCom adopted the Value Communications Corporation 2000
Stock
Incentive Compensation Plan as a means of encouraging stock ownership by
its
employees, officers, directors and advisors. Under terms of this plan,
non-qualified options to purchase up to 300,000 shares of common stock of
ValuCom were reserved for issuance, were generally granted at not less than
fair
market value, became exercisable as established by ValuCom (generally over
four
years) and generally expire seven years from the date of grant.
On
the date of ValuCom’s acquisition, we contractually agreed to replace the
existing employee stock options of ValuCom employees with our options once
we
obtained approvals necessary to establish a stock option plan in the
U.S.
As
of March 31, 2002, under the terms of an agreement with the ValuCom employees
holding options to purchase shares of ValuCom, we agreed to pay such employees
the cash value of their vested options as of that date. The value of the
options
was calculated pursuant to a formula included in the stock purchase agreement.
An amount of US$133,000 was recorded as of that date and included in goodwill.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, an aggregate of US$176,299 was
paid
to employees and US$43,299 was recorded as a compensation expense. We no
longer
have any obligations under the ValuCom option plan.
2002
Stock Option Plan
In
January 2002 our Board of Directors approved the 2002 Stock Option Plan (“2002
plan”) which provides for the grant of incentive stock options and non-statutory
stock options to our employees. All options under these plans are exercisable
for our ADSs. Necessary approvals from the regulators in India have been
obtained. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004, we made appropriate
filings with the SEC prior to the first exercise date of the options granted
under the 2002 plan. Unless terminated sooner, this plan will terminate
automatically in January 2012. A total of 280,000 of our Equity Shares were
reserved for issuance under the 2002 plan. As of March 31, 2003, we had granted
under the 2002 stock option plan, warrants equivalent to the right to purchase
220,500 Equity Shares at an exercise price of Rs.109. During the fiscal year
ended March 31, 2004, we granted warrants equivalent to the right to purchase
116,000 Equity Shares at a weighted average exercise price of US$7.75. During
the same period, warrants equivalent to 32,225 Equity Shares were exercised
and
warrants equivalent to 69,250 Equity Shares were forfeited. During the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2005, we granted warrants equivalent to the right to
purchase 10,500 Equity Shares at a weighted average exercise price of US$10.98.
During the same period, warrants equivalent to 52,625 Equity Shares were
exercised and warrants equivalent to 4,875 Equity Shares were forfeited.
During
the fiscal years ended March 31, 2006 and 2007, we did not grant any awards
under the 2002 Plan. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, warrants
equivalent to 25,125 Equity Shares were exercised.
Unless
otherwise determined by the Board of Directors, the warrants granted under
the
2002 plan vest at a rate of 25% on each successive anniversary of the grant
date, until fully vested. The options granted under the 2002 ADR plan vest
at
the rates set forth in every award.
2004
Stock Option Plan
In
June 2004, our Board of Directors approved the 2004 Stock Option Plan (“2004
plan”), which provides for the grant of stock options to our employees. All
options under the 2004 plan are exercisable for our ADSs. Unless terminated
sooner, the 2004 plan will terminate automatically in January 2014. A total
of
358,000 Equity Shares are currently reserved for issuance pursuant to the
2004
plan. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, we granted warrants
equivalent to the right to purchase 5,100 Equity Shares at a weighted average
exercise price of Rs.655 (US$14.73). During the same period, warrants equivalent
to 51,910 Equity Shares were exercised and warrants equivalent to 47,125
Equity
Shares were forfeited. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007,
we granted 92,500 options equivalent to the right to purchase 46,250 Equity
Shares at a weighted average exercise price of Rs.1,008
(US$23.13). During the same period, warrants equivalent to 39,075
Equity Shares were exercised and warrants equivalent to 11,875 Equity Shares
were forfeited.
Under
the terms of the 2004 plan, our Board of Directors or a committee or a
sub-committee of the board will determine and authorize the grant of options
to
eligible employees. These options will vest at the rates set forth in each
award. Each option grant carries with it the right to purchase a specified
number of our ADSs at the exercise price during the exercise period, which
expires ten years from the date of grant. The exercise price is determined
by
our Board of Directors (or a committee or a sub-committee of the board) and
shall be no more than 110% of the fair market value and no less than 50%
of the
fair market value of our ADSs on the date of the grant.
We
have obtained the approvals for the implementation of the 2004 plan. We also
made the necessary filings with the SEC prior to the first exercise date
of the
options granted under the 2004 plan.
2006
Employee Stock Option Plan
Our
2006 Employee Stock Option Plan (the “ESOP 2006”) allows for the grant to our
employees of options to purchase our Equity Shares. Each option granted gives
the employee the right to purchase a specified number of our Equity Shares
under
the ESOP 2006. The ESOP 2006 was adopted and approved by our Compensation
Committee on June 20, 2006 in accordance with the approval granted by our
shareholders on March 31, 2006. A total of 150,000 Equity Shares were approved
for issuance under the ESOP 2006. During the fiscal year ended March 31,
2007,
we have granted 123,000 options under the ESOP 2006, equivalent to the right
to
purchase 123,000 Equity Shares at an exercise price of Rs.10 (US$0.23) per
share. 58,000 and 65,000 options will vest at a rate of 25% and 20%,
respectively on each successive anniversary of the grant date, until fully
vested.
Equity
Shares acquired upon the exercise of options granted pursuant to the terms
of
the ESOP 2006 are not subject to any lock-ups. In the case of termination
or
resignation of the employee, the employee shall have the right to exercise
only
the options vested up to the time of termination or resignation, and the
unvested warrants options shall lapse. In the case of the death of an employee,
all options granted to him or her shall vest in full on his or her legal
heirs.
The period during which vested options may be exercised expires ten years
after
the date of grant.
2006
ADR Linked Employee Stock Option Plan
Our
2006 ADR Linked Employee Stock Option Plan (the “ADR Linked ESOP 2006”) allows
for the grant to our employees of options to purchase our ADRs representing
Equity Shares of the Company. Each option granted gives the employee the
right
to purchase a specified number of our ADRs under the ADR Linked ESOP 2006.
The
ADR Linked ESOP 2006 was adopted and approved by our Compensation Committee
on
October 3, 2006 in accordance with the approval granted by our shareholders
on
March 31, 2006. A total of 335,000 Equity Shares (equivalent to 670,000 ADRs)
were approved for issuance under the ADR Linked ESOP 2006. During the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2007, we granted 281,500 options under the ADR Linked
ESOP
2006, equivalent to the right to purchase 140,750 Equity Shares at an exercise
price of Rs.1,207 (US$27.69) per share. These options will vest at a rate
of 25%
on each successive anniversary of the grant date until fully
vested.
ADRs
acquired upon the exercise of options granted pursuant to the terms of the
ADR
Linked ESOP 2006 are not subject to any lock-ups. In the case of termination
or
resignation of the employee, the employee shall have the right to exercise
only
the options vested up to the time of termination or resignation, and the
unvested
options
shall lapse. In the case of the death of an employee, all options granted
to him
or her shall vest in full on his or her legal heirs. The period during which
vested options may be exercised expires ten years after the date of
grant.
Retirement
Plans
Gratuity.
We provide for gratuity, an unfunded defined benefit retirement plan covering
its eligible employees in India based on third-party actuarial valuations.
This
plan provides for a lump-sum payment to be made to vested employees at
retirement or termination of employment in an amount equivalent to 15 days’
salary, payable for each completed year of service. These gratuity benefits
vest
upon an employee’s completion of five years of service.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Change
in benefit obligation
|
|
|
|
|
|
Benefit
obligation at the beginning of the
year
|
US$88,021
|
|
US$96,524
|
|
US$105,679
|
Actuarial
(gain)
loss
|
(6,229)
|
|
5,618
|
|
81,386
|
Service
cost
|
16,923
|
|
21,479
|
|
21,769
|
Interest
cost
|
5,675
|
|
7,210
|
|
7,950
|
Benefits
paid
|
(7,647)
|
|
(22,942)
|
|
(23,997)
|
Effect
of exchange rate
changes
|
|
|
|
|
|
Benefit
obligation at the end of the year
|
US$96,524
|
|
US$105,679
|
|
US$198,777
|
Unrecognized
net actuarial loss (gain)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accrued
pension
liability
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Discount
rate
|
8%
|
|
8%
|
|
10%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate
of increase in compensation
|
8%
for first year and 6% thereafter
|
|
8%
for first
2
years and 5% thereafter
|
|
10%
for first
5
years and 7% thereafter
|
Provident
Fund. Employees based in India and we each contribute at the rate of 12%
of
salaries to a provident fund maintained by the Government of India for the
benefit of such employees. The provident fund is a defined contribution plan.
Accordingly, we expense such contributions to operations as incurred. Amounts
contributed by the Company to the provident fund, in the aggregate, were
US$87,710, US$ 113,222 and US$ 166,314 for
the fiscal years ended March 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007
respectively.
Compensated
Absences. We provide for the cost of vacation days earned by our employees
based on the number of unutilized vacation days as of each balance sheet
date.
RELATED
PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Five
of our largest shareholders beneficially hold an aggregate of approximately
59.9% of our Equity Share capital. As a result, such shareholders, if they
were
to act collectively, could exercise control or significantly influence most
matters requiring shareholder approval, including significant corporate
transactions.
Advertising
and Mobile Revenues
During
the fiscal years ended March 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005, we received US$31,281,
US$43,299, and US$53,991, respectively, in advertising revenues from
Rediffusion-Dentsu, Young & Rubicam Limited, a company in which Mr. Ajit
Balakrishnan and Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda are shareholders and directors and
in
which Mr. Sunil Phatar Phekar is a director.
During
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, we received US$19,800 in mobile revenues
from OnMobile Asia Pacific Pvt. Ltd., a company in which Mr, Sridar Iyengar
is a
director.
EXCHANGE
CONTROLS
Restrictions
on Conversion of Rupees
There
are restrictions on the conversion of Indian Rupees into U.S. dollars. Before
February 29, 1992, the Reserve Bank of India determined the official value
of
the Rupee in relation to a weighted basket of currencies of India’s major
trading partners. In the February 1992 budget, a new dual exchange rate
mechanism was introduced by allowing conversion of 60% of the foreign exchange
received on trade or current account at a market-determined rate and the
remaining 40% at the official rate. All importers were, however, required
to buy
foreign exchange at the market rate except for certain specified priority
imports. In March 1993, the exchange rate was unified and allowed to float.
In
February 1994 and again in August 1994, the Reserve Bank of India announced
relaxation in payment restrictions in the case of a number of transactions.
Since August 1994, the Government of India has substantially complied with
its
obligations owed to the International Monetary Fund, under which India is
committed to refrain from using exchange restrictions on current international
transactions as an instrument in managing the balance of payments. Effective
July 1995, the process of current account convertibility was advanced by
relaxing restrictions on foreign exchange for various purposes, such as foreign
travel and medical treatment.
In
December 1999, the Indian Parliament passed the FEMA, which replaced the
earlier
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (“FERA”). This legislation indicates a
major shift in the policy of the government with regard to foreign exchange
management in India. While FERA was aimed at the conservation of foreign
exchange and its utilization for the economic development of the country,
the
objective of FEMA is to facilitate external trade and promote the orderly
development and maintenance of the foreign exchange market in
India.
FEMA
permits most transactions involving foreign exchange except those prohibited
or
restricted by the Reserve Bank of India. FEMA has eased restrictions on current
account transactions. However the Reserve Bank of India continues to exercise
control over capital account transactions (i.e., those which alter the assets
or
liabilities, including contingent liabilities, of persons). The Reserve Bank
of
India has issued regulations under FEMA to regulate the various kinds of
capital
account transactions, including certain aspects of the purchase and issuance
of
shares of Indian companies.
Restrictions
on Sale of the Equity Shares Underlying the ADSs and for Repatriation of
Sale
Proceeds
ADSs
issued by Indian companies to non-residents have free transferability outside
India. However, under Indian regulations and practice, a dealer authorized
by
the Reserve Bank of India must be notified of the sale of equity shares
underlying ADSs by a non-resident of India to a resident of India, as well
as of
any renunciation by a non-resident in favor of a resident of India of the
right
to subscribe to such equity shares granted pursuant to a rights offering,
provided the price for sale of such equity shares is in accordance with Reserve
Bank of India pricing guidelines. If not, prior approval of the Reserve Bank
of
India is required for any such transfer. Under current Indian law, Equity
Shares
may only be deposited into our depositary facility in exchange for ADSs,
under
certain circumstances and the number of ADSs that can be outstanding at any
time
is limited as follows: after any offering of ADSs, Equity Shares can be
deposited for issuance of ADSs only to the extent that (a) holders have
surrendered ADSs and withdrawn Equity Shares from the ADS facility and (b)
such
holders sold such Equity Shares through SEBI registered stock brokers in
a
domestic Indian stock market. As our Equity Shares are not listed on any
Indian
stock exchange, if you elect to surrender your ADSs and receive Equity Shares,
you would be unable to redeposit outstanding Equity Shares with our Depositary
and receive ADSs.
Investors
who seek to sell in India to resident Indians any Equity Shares withdrawn
from
the depositary facility and to convert the Rupee proceeds from such sale
into
foreign currency and repatriate such foreign currency from India will be
subject
to pricing guidelines specified by the Reserve Bank of India for such sales
and
subject to certain reporting requirements. Prior approval of the Reserve
Bank of
India will be required in the event the price for any such sale does not
comply
with such pricing guidelines.
An
Active or Liquid Market for Our ADSs Is Not Assured
Active,
liquid trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more
efficient execution of buy and sell orders for investors. Liquidity of a
securities market is often a function of the volume of the shares
that are publicly held by unrelated parties. Although
ADS
owners are entitled to withdraw the Equity Shares underlying the ADSs from
the
depository facility at any time, subject to certain legal restrictions, there
is
no public market for our Equity Shares in India or elsewhere. Under current
Indian law, Equity Shares may only be deposited into our depositary facility
in
exchange for ADSs, under certain circumstances and the number of ADSs that
can
be outstanding at any time is limited as follows: after any offering of ADSs,
Equity Shares can be deposited for issuance of ADSs only to the extent that
(a)
holders have surrendered ADSs and withdrawn Equity Shares from the ADS facility
and (b) such holders sold such Equity Shares through SEBI-registered stock
brokers in a domestic Indian stock market. Since our Equity Shares are unlisted,
if you elect to surrender your ADSs and receive Equity Shares, you may be
unable
to re-deposit of our Equity Shares on an automatic basis under existing
laws.
Restriction
on Debt Issues
Indian
corporates are permitted to raise debt in various forms (commonly referred
to as
“External Commercial Borrowing” or “ECB”) from internationally recognized
sources such as international banks, international capital markets, multilateral
financial institutions, export credit agents, suppliers of equipment, foreign,
collaborators and foreign equity holders, subject to the regulations laid
down
by the Reserve Bank of India in this regard. These regulations govern all
the
important aspects of ECBs including amount and maturity, all-in cost ceilings
(including rate of interest and fees and expenses payable in foreign currency)
end-use, security and prepayment/redemption.
Indian
borrowers are allowed to raise up to US$20 million, in the event the minimum
average maturity of the ECB is three years, and up to US$500 million, in
the
event the minimum average maturity is five years, without Reserve Bank of
India
approval (the “automatic route”) so long as, inter alia, the following
conditions are met.
·
|
“All-in
cost” ceiling does not exceed 200 basis points over the six-month LIBOR
for the respective currency of borrowing, in the case of ECBs with
a
minimum average maturity of 3 to 5 years, and 350 basis points
over the
six-month LIBOR for the respective currency of borrowing, in the
case of
ECBs with a minimum average maturity being more than five
years.
|
·
|
Proceeds
from ECBs can be only raised for permitted purposes, such as capital
investments, overseas direct investment in a joint venture or a
wholly-owned foreign subsidiary. ECB proceeds cannot be used for
on-lending, for investing in capital markets and real estate, for
working
capital and general corporate purposes or for refinancing existing
domestic loans.
|
·
|
ECBs
may be secured by assets of the borrower subject to compliance
with the
relevant regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of
India.
|
·
|
Pre-payment
or redemption of ECBs prior to maturity in amounts up to US$200
million is
permitted without prior Reserve Bank of India approval, provided
that any
such prepayment and redemption can only be undertaken if the same
complies
with the stipulated average maturity period of three years, in
the case an
ECB of up to US$20 million, and five years, in the case of an ECB
of up to
US$500 million.
|
·
|
Proceeds
from ECBs in excess of US$20 million may not be utilized for Indian
Rupee-denominated expenditure without the prior approval of the
Reserve
Bank of India.
|
·
|
Preference
shares and convertible debentures that are not mandatorily and
fully
convertible into equity shares would be treated as ECBs for all
purposes
under the law.
|
All
proposals for the issuance of ECBs that do not fall into the parameters set
out
above will need the approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
The
maximum amount of ECB that may be raised by an eligible borrower under the
automatic route is US$500 million, or its equivalent, during a single financial
year. The primary responsibility to ensure that ECB raised/utilized are in
conformity with the RBI instructions is that of the concerned borrower and
any
contravention of the RBI guidelines will be viewed seriously and may invite
penal action.
The
Ministry of Finance, through the Issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds
and
Ordinary Shares (through Depositary Receipt Mechanism) Scheme 1993 (the
“Scheme”), has allowed Indian corporates to issue
Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (“FCCBs”). Unless otherwise
expressly provided in the Scheme, the issuance and terms of FCCBs are subject
to
the same conditions and restrictions set forth above for ECBs. All proposals
for
the issuance of FCCBs that do not fall under the automatic approval route
set
out in the Scheme and that do not meet the conditions and restrictions set
forth
for ECBs will need the approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
Sponsored
ADR Schemes
From
November 23, 2002, the Reserve Bank of India has permitted existing shareholders
of Indian companies to sell their shares through the issuance of ADRs against
the block of existing shares of the Indian company, subject to the following
conditions:
·
|
The
facility to sell the shares would be available pari passu to all
categories of shareholders.
|
·
|
The
sponsoring company whose shareholders propose to divest existing
shares in
the overseas market through issue of ADRs will give an option to
all its
shareholders indicating the number of shares to be divested and
mechanism
how the price will be determined under the ADR norms. If the shares
offered for divestment are more than the pre-specified number to
be
divested, shares would be accepted from the existing shareholders
in
proportion to their existing
shareholdings.
|
·
|
The
proposal for divestment of the shares would have to be approved
by a
special resolution of the Indian
company.
|
·
|
The
proceeds of the ADR issue raised abroad shall be repatriated into
India
within a period of one month from the closure of the issue. However,
the
proceeds of the ADR issue can also be retained abroad to meet the
future
foreign exchange requirements of the company and by a recent notification
this facility has been extended indefinitely till further
notice.
|
·
|
The
issue related expenses in relation to public issue of ADRs under
this
scheme would be subject to a ceiling of 7% of the issue size in
the case
of public issues and 2% of the issue size in case of private placements.
The issue related expenses would include underwriting commissions,
lead
manager charges, legal expenses and reimbursable expenses. The
issue
expenses shall be passed onto the shareholders participating in
the
sponsored issue on a pro rata
basis.
|
TRADING
MARKET
General
There
is no public market for our Equity Shares in India, the United States or
any
other market. Our ADSs evidenced by ADRs have been traded in the United States,
initially on the NASDAQ National Market (now the NASDAQ Global Market), under
the ticker symbol “REDF” since June 14, 2000, when they were issued by our
depositary, Citibank, N.A., pursuant to a Deposit Agreement. From June 24,
2002
to October 6, 2006, our ADSs traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market (formerly
the
NASDAQ Small Cap Market) under the same ticker symbol. Beginning on October
9,
2006, our ADSs have been trading on the NASDAQ Global Market. Each ADS
represents one-half of one Equity Share.
The
number of outstanding Equity Shares as of March 31, 2007, was 14,603,800.
We
have been informed by our depository that as of March 31, 2007, there were
approximately 26 record holders of ADRs evidencing 8,907,200 ADSs (representing
4,453,600 Equity Shares) in the United States.
Annual
and Quarterly high-low price history:
|
|
|
|
|
Price
Per ADS
(in
U.S. dollars)
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
4.78
|
|
0.21
|
|
13.87
|
|
2.76
|
|
15.47
|
|
5.25
|
|
33.75
|
|
6.07
|
First
Quarter (April 2005 to June 2005)
|
8.80
|
|
6.07
|
Second
Quarter (July 2005 to September 2005)
|
17.92
|
|
7.20
|
Third
Quarter (October 2005 to December 2005)
|
22.12
|
|
13.50
|
Fourth
Quarter (January 2006 to March 2006)
|
33.75
|
|
14.70
|
|
25.00
|
|
11.16
|
First
Quarter (April 2006 to June 2006)
|
25.00
|
|
11.22
|
Second
Quarter (July 2006 to September 2006)
|
16.72
|
|
11.16
|
Third
Quarter (October 2006 to December 2006)
|
21.19
|
|
14.23
|
Fourth
Quarter (January 2007 to March 2007)
|
20.32
|
|
15.35
|
|
|
|
|
First
Quarter (April 2007 to June 2007)
|
19.20
|
|
15.90
|
|
27.50
|
|
13.68
|
Monthly
high-low price history for previous six months:
|
|
|
|
Price
Per ADS
(in
U.S. dollars)
|
Previous
six months
|
High
|
|
Low
|
March
2007
|
17.47
|
|
15.35
|
April
2007
|
18.55
|
|
16.56
|
May
2007
|
19.20
|
|
15.90
|
June
2007
|
18.56
|
|
17.00
|
July
2007
|
27.50
|
|
15.82
|
August
2007
|
16.88
|
|
13.68
|
|
16.43
|
|
14.57
|
RESTRICTION
ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF INDIAN SECURITIES
Prior
to June 1, 2000, foreign investment in Indian securities, including the
acquisition, sale and transfer of securities in Indian companies, was regulated
by the FERA. As of June 1, 2000, foreign investment in and divestment from
Indian securities have been regulated by the provisions of the FEMA, the
notifications and regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of India thereunder,
and the rules made by the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India.
A
summary of the regulatory environment for foreign investment in India is
provided below.
ADR
Guidelines
Subject
to the fulfillment of certain conditions, Indian companies issuing ADSs are
no
longer required to obtain approval of the Ministry of Finance or the Reserve
Bank of India under the Issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and Ordinary
Shares (Through Depositary Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993, as amended from
time
to time, or the 1993 Scheme. Although we will not require approval of either
the
Ministry of Finance or the Reserve Bank of India, we are required to furnish
a
quarterly return to the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance
within
15 days of the close of each calendar quarter.
The
1993 Scheme is distinct from other policies described below relating to
investments in Indian companies by foreign investors. The issuance of ADSs
pursuant to the 1993 Scheme also affords to holders of ADSs the benefits
of
Sections 115AC and 115ACA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for purposes of the
application of Indian tax.
Foreign
Direct Investment
Currently,
subject to certain exceptions, foreign direct investment and investment by
individuals of Indian nationality or origin residing outside India, or
non-resident Indians, including investment in the ADSs, does not require
the
prior approval of the Government of India, or the Reserve Bank of India,
although a declaration in the prescribed form, detailing the foreign investment
must be filed with the Reserve Bank of India once the foreign investment
is made
in the Indian company. The Government of India has indicated that in all
cases
the Reserve Bank of India would continue to be the primary agency for the
purposes of monitoring and regulating foreign investment. The foregoing
description applies only to an issuance of shares by, and not to a transfer
of
shares of, Indian companies. Transfer of shares of an Indian company by a
non-resident Indian can be undertaken without having to obtain prior approval
from the Reserve Bank of India by making an application with an authorized
foreign exchange dealer, provided conditions specified in the FEMA are
fulfilled. Otherwise, such transfers would require prior approval from Reserve
Bank of India.
On
July 2, 2007, the Reserve Bank of India announced that it would allow, subject
to sectoral ceilings on foreign direct investments, transfers of shares from
residents to non-residents to be undertaken via the automatic route, including
transfers involving shares in financial services companies. However,
in cases where the Takeover Code (as discussed below) applies, such transfers
require the approval of the Reserve Bank.
Portfolio
Investment by Non-Resident Indians
A
variety of methods for investing in shares of Indian companies are available
to
non-resident Indians. Subject to certain terms and conditions, these methods
allow non-resident Indians to make portfolio investments in shares and other
securities of Indian companies on a basis not generally available to other
foreign investors. In addition to portfolio investments in Indian companies,
non-resident Indians may also make foreign direct investments in Indian
companies pursuant to the foreign direct investment route discussed
above.
Portfolio
Investment by Foreign Institutional Investors
In
September 1992, the Government of India issued guidelines that enable foreign
institutional investors, including institutions such as pension funds,
investment trusts, asset management companies, nominee companies and
incorporated/institutional portfolio managers referred to as Foreign
Institutional Investors, or FIIs, to make portfolio investments in all
securities of listed and unlisted companies in India. Investments by registered
Foreign Institutional Investors or Non-Resident Indians made through a stock
exchange are known as Portfolio Investments. Foreign investors wishing to
invest
and trade in Indian securities in India under these guidelines are required
to
register with the SEBI. Foreign investors are not necessarily required to
register with the SEBI as
Foreign Institutional Investors and may invest in securities
of Indian companies pursuant to the Foreign Direct Investment route discussed
above, but in order to make Portfolio Investments freely and to remit funds
into
and outside India without an approval for each remittance, registration as
an
FII or as a ‘sub-account’ of an FII is necessary.
Foreign
institutional investors are required to comply with the provisions of the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Foreign Institutional Investors)
Regulations, 1995, or Foreign Institutional Investor Regulations. A registered
FII may buy, subject to the ownership restrictions discussed below, and sell
freely securities issued by any Indian company, realize capital gains on
investments made through the initial amount invested in India, subscribe
to or
renounce rights offerings for shares, appoint a domestic custodian for custody
of investments made and repatriate the capital, capital gains, dividends,
income
received by way of interest and any compensation received towards sale or
renunciation of rights offerings of shares. An FII may not hold more than
10% of
the total issued capital of a company in its own name, a corporate/individual
sub-account of the FII may not hold more than 5% of the total issued capital
of
a company and a broad based sub-account of the FII may not hold more than
10% of
the total issued capital of a company. The total holding of all FIIs in a
company is subject to a cap of 24% of the total paid-up capital of a company,
which can be increased to the relevant statutory cap/ceiling in respect of
the
said company with the passing of a special resolution by the shareholders
of the
company in a general meeting.
FIIs
are also permitted to purchase shares and debentures, subject the FII limits,
of
an Indian company through either:
·
|
a
public offer, where the price of the shares to be issued is not
less than
the price at which the shares are issued to the residents;
or
|
·
|
by
way of a private placement, where the price is not less than the
price
according to the terms of the relevant guidelines or the guidelines
issued
by the former Controller of Capital
Issues.
|
Registered
FIIs are generally subject
to tax under Section 115AD of the Income Tax Act of 1961. There is uncertainty
under Indian law as to the tax regime applicable to foreign institutional
investors that hold and trade ADSs. As such, FIIs are urged to consult with
their Indian legal and tax advisors before making an investment in ADSs issued
by an Indian company.
In
addition to making portfolio investments in Indian companies, foreign
institutional investors may make foreign direct investments in Indian companies
pursuant to the foreign direct investment route discussed above.
Takeover
and Insider Trading Regulations
Under
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares
and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997, as amended, or Takeover Code, upon the
acquisition of more than 5% of the outstanding shares or voting rights of
a
listed public Indian company, a purchaser is required to notify the company,
and
the company and the purchaser are required to notify all the stock exchanges
on
which the shares of such company are listed. Upon the acquisition of 15%
or more
of such shares or voting rights or a change in control of the company, the
purchaser is required to make an open offer to the other shareholders offering
to purchase at least 20% of all the outstanding shares of the company at
a
minimum offer price as determined pursuant to the Takeover Code. Upon conversion
of ADSs into equity shares, an ADS holder will be subject to the Takeover
Code;
provided the Indian company is listed in India. Similarly, appropriate
disclosures would have to be made under the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider
Trading), Regulations, 1992, or Insider Trading Regulations, if the equity
shares of the Indian company are listed on a recognized stock exchange in
India.
Please note that so long as our Equity Shares are unlisted in India, the
provisions of the Takeover Code and the Insider Trading Regulations will
not be
applicable.
Qualified
Institutional Placement under the Disclosure and Investor Protection (DIP)
Guidelines
In
order to make Indian markets more competitive and efficient, the Government
of
India has introduced an additional mode for listed companies to raise funds
from
domestic market in the form of “Qualified Institutional Placement”, or QIP. Key
features of the QIP program are as follows:
·
|
Issuers. A
company whose equity shares are listed on an Indian stock exchange
with
nationwide trading terminals and which is in compliance with the
prescribed requirements of minimum public
shareholding
|
·
|
in
its listing agreement will be eligible to raise funds in the domestic
market by placing securities with Qualified Institutional Buyers,
or
QIBs.
|
QIBs
are defined as:
o
|
Public
financial institution as defined in Section 4A of the Companies
Act;
|
o
|
Scheduled
commercial banks;
|
o
|
FIIs
registered with SEBI;
|
o
|
Multilateral
and bilateral development financial
institutions;
|
o
|
Venture
capital funds registered with SEBI;
|
o
|
Foreign
venture capital investors registered with
SEBI;
|
o
|
State
industrial development
corporations;
|
o
|
Insurance
companies registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority;
|
o
|
Provident
funds with minimum corpus of Rs.250
million;
|
o
|
Pension
funds with minimum corpus of Rs.250
million.
|
·
|
Securities: Securities
which can be issued through QIP program are equity shares or any
securities, other than warrants, which are convertible into or
exchangeable with equity shares (hereinafter referred to as “specified
securities”). A security which is convertible into or exchangeable with
equity shares at a later date, may be converted or exchanged into
equity
shares at any time after allotment of security but not later than
sixty
months from the date of allotment. The specified securities shall
be made
fully paid up at the time of
allotment.
|
·
|
Investors/Allottees:
The specified securities can be issued only to QIBs, as defined
above.
Such QIBs shall not be promoters or related to promoters of the
issuer,
either directly or indirectly. Each placement of the specified
securities
issued through QIP program shall be on a private placement basis,
in
compliance with the requirements of the Companies Act and the DIP
Guidelines. A minimum of 10% of the securities in each placement
shall be
allotted to mutual funds.
|
·
|
Issue
Size: The aggregate funds that can be raised through the QIP program
in one financial year shall not exceed five times of the net worth
of the
issuer as of the end of its previous financial
year.
|
·
|
Placement
Document: The issuer shall prepare a placement document
containing all the relevant and material disclosures. There will
be no
pre-issue filing of the placement document with SEBI. The placement
document will be placed on the websites of the relevant Indian
stock
exchanges and of the issuer, with appropriate disclaimer to the
effect
that the placement is meant only for QIBs on a private placement
basis and
is not an offer to the public.
|
·
|
Pricing:
The floor price of the specified securities shall be determined
on a basis
similar to that for Global Depository Receipt or Foreign Currency
Convertible Bonds issues and shall be subject to adjustment in
case of
corporate actions such as stock splits, rights issue, bonus issue
etc.
|
Please
note that because our Equity Shares are not listed on any Indian stock exchange,
we are not eligible to participate in the QIP program.
Restrictions
on Conversion of Rupees
There
are restrictions on the conversion of Rupees into U.S. dollars. Before February
29, 1992, the Reserve Bank of India determined the official value of the
Rupee
in relation to a weighted basket of currencies of India’s major trading
partners. In the February 1992 budget, a new dual exchange rate mechanism
was
introduced by allowing conversion of 60% of the foreign exchange received
on
trade or current account at a market-determined rate and the remaining 40%
at
the official rate. All importers were, however, required to buy foreign exchange
at the market rate except for certain specified priority imports. In March
1993,
the exchange rate was unified and allowed to float. In February 1994 and
again
in August 1994, the Reserve Bank of India announced relaxation in payment
restrictions in the case of a number of transactions. Since August 1994,
the
Government of India has substantially complied with its obligations owed
to the
International Monetary Fund (“IMF”), under which India is committed to refrain
from using exchange restrictions on current international transactions as
an
instrument in managing the balance of payments. Effective July 1995, the
process
of current account convertibility was advanced by relaxing restrictions on
foreign exchange for various purposes, such as foreign travel and medical
treatment.
In
December 1999, the Indian parliament passed the FEMA, which became effective
on
June 1, 2000, replacing the earlier Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973,
or
FERA. This new legislation indicates a major shift in the policy of the
government with regard to foreign exchange management in India. While FERA
was
aimed at the conservation of foreign exchange and its utilization for the
economic development of the country, the objective of FEMA is to facilitate
external trade and promote the orderly development and maintenance of the
foreign exchange market in India.
FEMA
permits most transactions involving foreign exchange except those prohibited
or
restricted by the Reserve Bank of India. FEMA has eased restrictions on current
account transactions. However the Reserve Bank of India continues to exercise
control over capital account transactions (i.e., those which alter the assets
or
liabilities, including contingent liabilities, of persons). The Reserve Bank
of
India has issued regulations under FEMA to regulate the various kinds of
capital
account transactions, including certain aspects of the purchase and issuance
of
shares of Indian companies.
PRINCIPAL
SHAREHOLDERS
The
following table provides information relating to the beneficial ownership
of our
equity shares for:
·
|
each
of the executive officers named in the summary compensation table
and each
of our directors;
|
·
|
all
of our directors and executive officers as a group;
and
|
·
|
each
person or group of affiliated persons who is known by us to beneficially
own 5.0% or more of our Equity
Shares.
|
|
|
Shares
Beneficially Owned
|
|
Shares
Beneficially Owned
|
|
Shares
Beneficially Owned
|
Name
of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Number
of
Equity
Shares
held
|
|
Percent
of total Equity Shares outstanding
|
|
Number
of Equity Shares held
|
|
Percent
of total Equity Shares outstanding
|
|
Number
of Equity Shares held
|
|
Percent
of total Equity Shares outstanding
|
Officers
and Directors
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ajit
Balakrishnan (1)(1A)
(1B)
(1C)
|
|
3,463,982
|
|
24%
|
|
3,463,982
|
|
24%
|
|
3,463,982
|
|
27%
|
Diwan
Arun Nanda
(1)
|
|
3,444,742
|
|
24%
|
|
3,444,742
|
|
24%
|
|
3,444,742
|
|
27%
|
Pulak
Prasad
(2)
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
2,008,000
|
|
14%
|
|
2,008,000
|
|
16%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All
Directors and Officers as a Group
(2
persons)
|
|
6,908,724
|
|
48%
|
|
6,716,722
|
|
46%
|
|
6,716,722
|
|
52%
|
Other Shareholders
holding more than 5 % shareholding
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rediffusion
Holdings Private Limited(1)
|
|
2,200,002
|
|
15%
|
|
2,200,002
|
|
15%
|
|
2,200,002
|
|
17%
|
Draper-India
International
|
|
2,200,000
|
|
15%
|
|
2,200,000
|
|
15%
|
|
2,200,000
|
|
17%
|
Queenswood
Investments Ltd
|
|
2,008,000
|
|
14%
|
|
2,008,000
|
|
14%
|
|
2,008,000
|
|
16%
|