Aptech will pay an initial amount of $3.5 million shortly and the balance amount will be paid over the next two years. "However, the remaining payment is linked to the total earnings of Specsoft over the next two years," Aptech chairman Atul Nishar told reporters. "The core business of Specsoft is on Unix/NT system software, networking, telecommunication and emerging Web-related technology consulting both on-site and off-site in the US," Aptech managing director and chief executive officer Ganesh Natarajan said. Company officials declined to divulge other details about the deal. Nishar said the company would utilise a part of the Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) for the acquisition in addition to the company's internal resources.

Aptech is also in talks with a couple of US companies for possible strategic alliances. Specsoft offers Internet and Intranet applications, storage area networks, device drivers and fibre channel, system software, telecom and convergence applications and hardware and ASIC chip design. Its customers include Cisco, AMD, Oracle, Sybase, Sun and 3Com. Aptech has also completed its $75 million offering of 10,452,962 GDRs at $7.17 per GDR. Each GDS represents one-half of an equity share. The pricing of the GDR translates to Rs 640 per equity share.