RECRUITER ACQUIRES INTEREVE NETSOL BOOSTS PRESENCE.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

CALABASAS - NetSol International Inc. has expanded its reach to Silicon Valley with the acquisition of Intereve Corp., a similar but smaller firm that also develops software and recruits computer workers, the companies announced Thursday.

Intereve's Fremont offices will become another outpost in NetSol's worldwide chain of offices, which recruit and place information technology workers and write programs that bring companies with older mainframes into the Internet age.

``It's tremendous for us because NetSol has always looked at the Silicon Valley as a market we wanted to penetrate, but the cost of starting an office there is just ridiculous,'' said NetSol Senior Vice President Jack Madha.

Intereve, a successful startup with about a dozen consultants, brought the added value of having a recruiting pipeline to India, which complements NetSol's efforts in Pakistan.

``Due to the shortage of information technology professionals in the market, some companies are having a hard time hiring - others just don't want to deal with the headache of having an IT department,'' Madha said.

NetSol has more than 400 employees with offices in Virginia as well as the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

The deal valued at $410,000 will consist of cash payouts that will be made through continued cash flow generated at Intereve's operations. Intereve had net income of $100,000 on sales of about $1 million in 2000.

NetSol's stock closed at $3.31, down 34 cents or 9.4 percent on trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Intereve was founded in 1999 by graduates of the University of California at

Berkeley and the Indian Institute of Technology. It has provided support for such companies as Wells Fargo & Co., Internet retailer Emtera and online grocery company WebVan Group Inc.

Its recruitment efforts in India were prompted by the ongoing shortage of qualified information technology workers in America.

``In order to fuel NetSol's growth into the global markets, it was crucial to have a secondary source of qualified IT professionals,'' said Najeeb Ghauri, NetSol's chief executive officer.

Those Indian workers are brought in on H-1B specialty occupation visas after a thorough screening and testing process, he said.

``This acquisition gives us the opportunity to expand our reach by utilizing NetSol's experience working with blue-chip customers,'' said Girish MunDada, one of Intereve's founders who now serves as senior vice president of engineering and business development at NetSol.

NetSol's customers include DaimlerChrysler Taiwan, Mercedes Benz Finance Australia, International Data Systems, GMAC in Australia, VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc.