Citigroup PE in race for group BPO subsidiary

Private equity player Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC) is learnt to have entered the race for buying Citigroup’s BPO arm — Citigroup Global Services. Sources in the industry say BPO majors Genpact and WNS Holdings and PE firm CVC are the final three players who are interested in the transaction. While NYSE-listed Genpact is believed to be as the front-runner in the deal, CVC may benefit from being part of the Citigroup family.

Citigroup has put its captive BPO outfit, Citigroup Global Services, on the block for some time but valuation of the deal and the lack of commitment of future business from Citigroup is making the transaction protracted.

While valuation was earlier learnt to be hovering around $750-800 million, sources say it has now come down to $600 million. The captive is expected to report revenues of about $200 million this year. This means a valuation of three times its revenues.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Genpact leads pack in race for Citi BPO

An end to the long search for Citigroup BPO’s buyer finally seems to be in sight. Genpact is said to be ahead in the race for the BPO. The decision is expected by the month end. Firstsource and WNS also remain in contention, according to sources.

According to sources, the final valuation will depend on a number of parameters, including the number of years for which Citigroup is willing to give the BPO-committed business. It is currently looking at giving a contract for five years.

However, a final decision is yet to be taken. While the valuation being quoted in industry circles is around $850 million, it could be higher or lower depending on how long the contract would be. Sources also indicated the payment for the deal is likely to be a mix of cash and shares in the winning company.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Genpact, 2 others in race for Citi BPO unit

Citigroup has shortlisted three bidders for its business process outsourcing (BPO) unit after the first round of bidding.

The sale of the BPO business, run by Citigroup Global Services (formerly e-Serve), is expected to fetch around Rs 3,200 crore for the group. At this price, it will be the largest deal in the domestic BPO space.

The shortlisted bidders are Firstsource, WNS and Genpact, said sources close to the development. Others who had expressed initial interest, including IBM, Automatic Data Processing (ADS), Infosys, EDS, Capgemini and private equity players such as Blackstone and General Atlantic, are no longer in the race.

The largest major deal in the BPO space so far was when Blackstone recently bought Intelenet from Barclays and HDFC for Rs 840 crore.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Genpact, 2 others in race for Citi BPO unit

Citigroup has shortlisted three bidders for its business process outsourcing (BPO) unit after the first round of bidding.

The sale of the BPO business, run by Citigroup Global Services (formerly e-Serve), is expected to fetch around Rs 3,200 crore for the group. At this price, it will be the largest deal in the domestic BPO space.

The shortlisted bidders are Firstsource, WNS and Genpact, said sources close to the development. Others who had expressed initial interest, including IBM, Automatic Data Processing (ADS), Infosys, EDS, Capgemini and private equity players such as Blackstone and General Atlantic, are no longer in the race.

The largest major deal in the BPO space so far was when Blackstone recently bought Intelenet from Barclays and HDFC for Rs 840 crore.

Read more in The Business Standard article.