Blackstone makes $217m partial exit from India's Mphasis
The Blackstone Group has made a partial exit from Indian IT services provider Mphasis, selling an 8% stake in the publicly traded company for approximately INR14.8 billion ($217 million).
A total of 15.5 million shares were exited, reducing the private equity firm’s stake in Mphasis from 60.38% to 52.38%, according to a filing. The implied average selling price of INR957 per share is double what Blackstone paid when it acquired a controlling interest from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for $825 million in 2016. Mphasis’ stock closed up 9.8% at INR1,082 on May 15.
This the second time the private equity firm has taken money out of the business. Last June, Mphasis issued $500 million in bonds, the proceeds of which were used to recapitalize its debt and make a dividend payment to Blackstone and co-investor GIC Private. It was said to be the largest PE sponsor-backed bond transaction ever completed out of India.
Mphasis offers business process outsourcing (BPO) and infrastructure services to companies worldwide in the banking, financial services, and insurance sectors. It employs more than 20,000 people in 16 countries, and generated revenue of INR65.5 billion for the 12 months ended March 2018, up from INR60.7 billion a year earlier. Net profit rose from INR7.91 billion to INR8.37 billion over the same period.
After agreeing to acquire HPE’s stake in the company, Blackstone made an open offer for an additional block of shares that would have taken its stake past 80%, but the response was minimal. The private equity firm is an active investor in India's BPO sector. Notable deals include the buyback of Intelenet Global Services from Serco Group.
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.