The Ceylon Tobacco Company Limited (CTC), one of the most successful multinationals operating in Sri Lanka, has set up a new information technology company called Advent International, the company announced in its recently published annual report.

"Advent is a global ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) service centre for both the British American Tobacco group of companies worldwide, and for local companies in Sri Lanka," CTC MD/CEO Fred Combe said.

"Advent will become a strategic partner with Sage Enterprise Solutions, the software owner of a recognised ERP tool called CS/3. It is also intended for Advent to become an associate of Oliver Wight and provide consultancy support on MRPII to external clients."

Combe who said that their people were already working in Nigeria and Turkey on key projects described the new business as a "very exciting new venture which will provide employment for IT professionals in Sri Lanka, provide new revenue streams for CTC and add significant value to the Sri Lankan economy."

CTC currently has four main subsidiaries, three of which did not operate last year. The only operational subsidiary was CTC Services Ltd. The other three are CTC Leaf Exports Ltd., CTC Exports Ltd. and CTC Briquettes Ltd.