BT sells part stake in Tech Mahindra for Rs556 crore

British Telecom (BT) is selling around 5 per cent stake in IT services firm Tech Mahindra for about $100 million (Rs556 crore), Reuters yesterday reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

BT, the second-largest stakeholder in Tech Mahindra with 23.2-per cent stake, is selling about 5 per cent for between Rs735 to Rs790 each, a discount of 5 to 12 per cent from Tech Mahindra's Wednesday closing price of Rs834.90, said the report

The London-based £21-billion telecom giant, has been looking to divest its stake in Tech Mahindra since 2008, but had to put its plans on hold following the stock market collapse due to the global recession.

It did sell 5.5 per cent of its holding or 6.9 million shares to Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) in December 2010 for £63 million.

Several media had last year reported that private equity firms, Carlyle Group and Advent International are in the race to buy BT's entire stake in a little over $500 million deal.

BT and M&M set up a joint venture that became Tech Mahindra in 1986 and since then, the Indian-listed business has grown to gross annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.