Capital Square agrees Essar BPO carve-out
Singapore-based Capital Square Partners has agreed to acquire business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider Aegis from Indian conglomerate Essar Group.
Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed, but various Indian media outlets, citing anonymous sources, have reported a valuation of around $300 million. In a statement, Aegis said the sale marks Essar's exit from the BPO industry. The group will use proceeds from the sale to pay down its debt.
Essar acquired US-based Aegis Communications Group in 2004, but sold its US, Philippines and Costa Rica businesses in 2014. The company services clients in a range of industries, including telecom, technology, media, financial services and retail. It employs more than 40,000 people across 10 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America and Europe. For the most recent financial year it claimed revenues of around $400 million.
"We are excited about the opportunity to work with the Aegis management team in embarking on the next stage of growth by focusing on innovation and adding our sector knowledge and expertise," said Sanjay Chakrabarty and Mukesh Sharda, managing partners at Capital Square, in a joint statement. "We look forward to continuing to build on the core values of customer focus, agility and service excellence of Aegis."
Capital Square has done a number of BPO deals in India in recent years: Aegis joins CSS Corp, bought for $270 million alongside Partners Group in 2013, and Indecomm Global Services, acquired for a reported $90 million from WestBridge Capital, Tiger Global Management and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) last year, in its portfolio.
The GP also co-led a consortium with CX Partners to buy Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide for $260 million in 2014. Capital Square and CX exited Minacs last year to US-based BPO provider Synnex for $420 million.
The firm's early investments were done on a deal-by-deal basis. Capital Square is currently in the process of raising a Southeast Asia and India-focused fund.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.