Khazanah, Baring jointly offer $800m for Aegis

The Times of India reported that Khazanah and Baring Asia may bring another Malaysia investor into the consortium as their offer is below the initial asking price of $1 billion. Standard Chartered Bank is reportedly advising Essar on the deal process, which started nearly four months ago.

Aegis provides third-party BPO services in 49 languages and across eight countries. It has 41 delivery centers, 18 of which are located across 11 cities in India. It was established as Essar Terminals in 1992, before being renamed as Aegis BPO Services in 2004 and simply ‘Aegis' four years later. The company has $1 billion in revenue and reported operating profit of about $110 million in the 2011 fiscal year.

Parent company Essar is owned by Indian brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, who are among India's richest men. It also controls London-listed Essar Energy and acquired US mining asset Trinity Coal for $600 million in 2010.

The Aegis deal could be Khazanah's first investment in the $15.9 billion Indian BPO space. Khazanah also holds an 8% stake in India-based Apollo Hospitals. In March, the sovereign wealth fund reportedly sold the 4.2% stake in India's Yes Bank it acquired from ChrysCapital and other investors for INR5.3 billion ($106 million).

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Khazanah Nasional
• Baring Private Equity Asia
• India