Blackstone nears deal to buy Serco BPO unit

Talks in advanced stages, deal is likely soon

Private equity (PE) major Blackstone is in talks with UK-based Serco India to buy out its Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) unit for £250 million (around $385 million).

Sources close to the development said talks were in advanced stages and a deal was likely soon. Blackstone has the backing of the management team of Serco India, including Serco Global Services CEO Susir Kumar. Serco India's business largely comprises Intelenet Global Services that it had bought from promoter Susir Kumar and investor Blackstone in 2011 for $634 million.

In reply to a query, a Serco spokesperson said the process to sell its global private sector BPO business was on. "The process for the potential disposal of our international private sector BPO business, formerly known as Intelenet, continues," the company stated.

"The board is assessing a number of different options and a further update will be provided at the appropriate time," it added.

According to sources, while another private equity player CVC Capital partners along with its portfolio company SPi Global of the Philippines was initially the preferred bidder, it is no longer pursuing the deal owing to opposition by the Serco India management.

CVC was, however, not completely out of the fray, another source said. CVC had earlier offered £220-235 million along with an equity component for buying out Serco India.

If Blackstone concludes the deal, it will be buying back the company it had exited some time ago, as the PE major was responsible for the growth of Intelenet as a strong player in the BPO sector.

Sources said for the deal to be concluded, there would be certain regulatory requirements as Serco was listed in the UK. This would involve an agreement between all parties, apart from convening an extraordinary general meeting for taking shareholder approval. Finally, the decision has to be ratified by its board.

In March this year, the Serco Group had announced the launch of its rights issue to raise £555 million and said it had initiated talks to sell its private BPO operations.

In filings with the London Stock Exchange, the group had said it intended to sell secondary businesses to reduce debt. These include its private BPO operations, Mumbai-based Intelenet and Delhi-based Infovision.

According to sources, while another private equity player CVC Capital partners along with its portfolio company SPi Global of the Philippines was initially the preferred bidder, it is no longer pursuing the deal owing to opposition by the Serco India management.