According to Info Edge's management, the company has restructured its top management so that former CEO & MD, now Vice Chairman Sanjeev Bikhchandani can spend more time on looking at external strategic investments and acquisitions for the company. On the earnings call, Bikhchandani said that the market is expanding, and there are opportunities out there, though more for investments than acquisition. Info Edge is going to look at all areas of investments in the Internet space - Automobiles (classifieds), e-commerce, e-learning and content creation, not necessarily at the classifieds business alone. "We see external investment opportunities in a variety of areas, which we constantly look at. As I move full time into that role, we can expect more external investments than we have done in the last two years," Bikchandani said on the call. However, he assured investors that the troika of Bikchandani, newly promoted CEO & MD Hitesh Oberoi and Group President Finance and Chief Financial Officer Ambarish Raghuvanshi will continue to work very closely and all strategic issues will be discussed, even though execution will be led by Oberoi for interal, and Bikhchandani for external decisions. While the market may be improving, and Info Edge is performing better, one should keep in mind that there is significant competition for investments - especially early stage - which is likely to drive up valuations once again. Info Edge has investments in Applect (MeritNation) in e-learning, Etech Aces (PolicyBazaar), and lost money on their investment in StudyPlaces. From this year onwards,…
