Mumbai, Sept. 16: Blackstone, the global private equity giant, is buying back its India BPO business (formerly known as Intelenet) from Britain's Serco Group for £250 million, or Rs 2,558 crore.
Blackstone had picked up a majority stake in Intelenet in 2007. It sold its 66 per cent stake in Intelenet in 2011 to Serco, which along with the holdings of Barclays and HDFC acquired the BPO unit for £385 million (Rs 2,800 crore).
Serco today said that Blackstone will buy the majority of its private sector BPO operations, the main element of which is the former Intelenet business, for a consideration of £250 million.
Incidentally, the enterprise value of the deal represents the largest acquisition by Blackstone in India.
After the change in ownership, the business will be rebranded and revived as Intelenet Global Services. The sale is expected to be complete in the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions and approvals. Blackstone will be acquiring 100 per cent of the carved out business.
Sources said of the £250 million, close to £30 million will be funded through debt and the rest coming by equity.
Serco had made other acquisitions that include The Listening Company, Australian BPO Excelior and Vertex Public Sector. But these will not be part of the deal with Blackstone.
Serco is exiting Intelenet following a change in strategy that focuses on being a business-to-government service provider.
According to the terms of the transaction, the Intelenet business will be led by Susir Kumar and the existing management team.
Under Serco, Kumar said, the BPO business had grown four times. The business currently employs 51,000 people across eight countries, working out of 67 centres.
"The business was sold because of a change in strategy of Serco. We have retained almost all of our clients and key staff that we have had since our inception and look forward to add value to them.
"We will be working on a strategy that will enable us to significantly enhance our offering to existing customers and prospects. With the present management team continuing, this represents a seamless change of ownership and business as usual for all our stakeholders," he added.
Meanwhile, Blackstone hopes to leverage on the network of its portfolio companies around the globe to get business to Intelenet.
According to Amit Dixit, senior managing director and co-head of private equity in India at Blackstone, the strong focus on the growth geography of India, along with its concentration in sectors such as banking and finance, travel and hospitality, prompted Blackstone to invest back into the business.
