NASDAQ-listed AsiaInfo Holdings, which has agreed to buy a Hong Kong software firm, aims to become the top vendor of human resources management (HRM) software in China.

The ambition was revealed yesterday by James Li, vice-president of the Chinese telecom solution provider.

AsiaInfo said it would spend US$9 million, including US$6.45 million in cash and US$2.55 million in AsiaInfo's stocks, to purchase a unit from Hong Kong-based Pacific Software (China). The unit is engaged in developing and marketing HRM and business intelligence (BI) software.

A team of 60 in the unit will join AsiaInfo on completion of the deal scheduled by year end.

"The acquisition is a natural extension of our business scope, since we both focus on providing IT solutions to big State-owned enterprises in China," said Zhang Xingsheng, president and chief executive officer of AsiaInfo.

He believed that the deal will diversify AsiaInfo's revenue pools and ensure it has a sustainable growth in the coming years.

The newly-acquired unit has already signed a contract to develop a HRM system for China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation - the country's largest refiner - to help manage its one-million employees.

China's HRM software market will generate revenues of US$50 million this year and it will double by 2005, forecast the US-based information technology market research firm International Data Corporation .

Estimations from Business Objects, a major international BI software provider, also say the BI market in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan will reach 3.57 billion yuan (US$431 million) this year.

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