Blackstone set to acquire HDFC-Barclays JV Intelenet for $200 million

18 June 2007

Mumbai: Private equity firm Blackstone is close clinching the deal to acquire a majority stake in business process outsourcing company Intelenet for $200 million.

Intelenet, a 50:50 partnership between HDFC and Barclays Bank, is ranked among top 15 BPOs in the country. The BPO was up for sale with both the partners interested in exiting their holdings for some time now.

Blackstone was in advanced talks and the deal was likely to be concluded next week, sources close to the development said. "A few issues still remain to be ironed out," said another source.

Intelenet has revenues in the region of Rs380 crore with an operating profit of around Rs55 crore while Sparsh, its domestic BPO business that is a listed entity, reported revenues of Rs87.44 crore and a net profit of Rs87.3 lakh for the year ended March 2007.

The company has now filed for an IPO in the US.

Sources said the deal could possibly include a management buyout although they did not confirm this. The current management team that includes CEO Susir Kumar and VP (sales, solutions & transitions) Sandeep Aggarwal, among others has been with the company since its inception as a joint venture between Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC.