Everstone exits India's Servion Global Solutions to EMK Capital
Everstone Capital has sold Indian customer experience management provider Servion Global Solutions to UK private equity investor EMK Capital for an undisclosed sum.
Everstone first invested in Servio in 2014, committing INR 4bn (USD 48.1m) via its Evertech vehicle alongside US technology investor Solmark for a majority stake. It added USD 8m in 2017, at which time its total commitment to the company amounted to USD 74m.
Servion’s backers also include Cisco Investments Singapore’s Basil Partners, which rolled the company alongside other portfolio assets into a vehicle backed by NewQuest Capital Partners and Committed Advisors as part of a stapled secondary in 2018.
That portfolio of companies, including Servion, was again rolled into a new fund backed by NewQuest, Committed, and HarbourVest Partners last January, as part of a merger between Basil and fellow Singaporean GP Capital Square Partners.
Founded in 1991, Servion provides customer service teams with consulting, technical support, and professional services related to phone, email, chat, and social media. It positions itself as the only global end-to-end player in its space, claiming competence in cloud, text and voice analytics, conversational artificial intelligence (AI), omnichannel engagement, robotic process automation, and workforce optimisation.
Operations encompass 1,100 employees across India, Southeast Asia, the US, Canada, and the Middle East. The company has served more than 600 clients, including retailers, telecommunications providers, financial services companies, and government agencies. There are also technology partnerships with Google, Amazon, and Cisco, among others.
Everstone said it had repositioned the company during its investment period to embrace cloud and AI while launching a successful software-as-a-service business. In a social media post, it described the exit as part of USD 1bn in liquidity events in the past 12 months, including divestments from Restaurant Brands Asia, SJS Enterprises, Everise, Sahyadri Hospitals, Slayback Pharma, and IndoStar Capital Finance.
Manoj Balwani, head of technology for the US and India at BDA Partners, Servion’s financial advisor for the EMK investment, described the deal as a “good outcome” for Everstone. “With the growing digitalisation of contact centres and the use of disruptive AI-enabled technologies, Servion is uniquely positioned to ride on favourable industry tailwinds,” he said in a statement.
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