Promoted by first generation entrepreneurs, Ontrack is offering 23.5 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 10, aggregating Rs 4.7 crore. Of the total shares on the offer, Ontrack has reserved one lakh shares at a price of Rs 20 for OCBs/NRIs/FIIs. Ontrack's promoters are subscribing to 10 lakh equity shares at a price of Rs 20. Hence, net public offer is 12.5 lakh equity shares.

Ontrack is demanding the full amount of Rs 20 on application and application should be for a minimum of 100 shares and in multiples of 100. Post-issue, Ontrack's equity will rise from Rs 2.65 crore to Rs 5 crore. The IPO is lead managed by Ind Bank Merchant and the shares are proposed to be listed at Chennai and Calcutta.

Although Ontrack has been in IT business for the past 12 years, the company's growth and profitability figures have not been in line with the overall growth of the industry. According to the draft prospectus, Ontrack specialises in turnkey IT projects, internet portal development, networking and hardware services. The company has registration for a software technology park to house its India development centre operations. This is the software production arm of Ontrack. The company now has over 250 customers in and around Calcutta.

Ontrack is now embarking on a Rs 10.49-crore project. The company is in the process of launching a portal, Tendertimes.com, which is targetted at the hug tender market. Of the total project cost, a major portion of Rs 5.69 crore is going towards Tendertimes.com. The company is also setting up an office in San Jase, US, at a total cost of Rs 1.62 crore. The proposed US branch of Ontrack will act as the sourcing centre for its business besides exploring other growth avenues. The company is also setting up a R&D centre for computer telephony at a total cost of Rs 57 lakh. This division will aim at tapping the huge interactive voice recording systems market especially in the context of our multilingual environment. However, the company is yet to recruit key personnel for all these projects.

Till fiscal 1999, Ontrack had been operating on a low profit margin. On a total income of Rs 1.36 crore, the company recorded a net profit of just Rs 79,000. The unaudited nine-month results for fiscal 2000 show a sharp jump in net profit to Rs 27 lakh on turnover of Rs 1.3 crore.

Incorporated just three months back, India Images Entertainment & Software is planning to tap the market. The company is offering 60 lakh shares of Rs 10 each at par. Lead managed by Aryaman Financial Services, the shares are proposed to be listed at Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Sirissoft Ltd is yet another software company going public with hardly any track record. Sirissoft is offering 26 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at par, aggregating Rs 2.6 crore. The IPO is lead managed by CIL Securities and the shares are proposed to be listed at Mumbai and Hyderabad.