IBM, Convergys & Bain in early talks to buy Intelenet
IBM and Convergys are among contenders said to be in talks for a potential $1.2 billion acquisition of Intelenet, an outsourcing company owned by Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager- News article by The Economic Times.
Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital, which owns one-third of outsourcing firm Genpact, is also in the fray to acquire Intelenet as the Blackstone Group looks to sell the company a second time, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the process told ET.
If a deal does take place at the $1-1.2 billion valuations that some have pegged the price at, Blackstone will get a return of more than three times from a three-year-old investment or a 60% internal rate of return (IRR) in dollar terms, sources said. The average net IRR of Indian PE firms is 14.7%, according to data compiled by Preqin, a UK-based industry tracker.
Blackstone has mandated JPMorgan to run a formal process to find a buyer, sources said. Spokespersons for Blackstone and Bain Capital declined to comment. Convergys and IBM did not respond to emailed questions.
ET reported in October last year that Intelenet is weighing options to provide an exit for Blackstone, though no clear-cut plan had been decided. Intelenet executive chairman Susir Kumar Mangalore told ET at the time that the company had begun to weigh its options though it had no immediate need to provide an exit to its private equity owner. The US fund had first acquired Intelenet from some investors including Barclays for about $260 million in 2007 and sold it to UK-based Serco for $634 million in 2011.