EDS to offer $380 million for Indian outsourcer

IT services company Electronic Data Systems said Monday that it will make a conditional open offer worth $380 million to acquire a majority stake in Indian outsourcer Mphasis BFL.

IT services company Electronic Data Systems said Monday it will make a conditional open offer worth $380 million to acquire a majority stake in Indian outsourcer Mphasis BFL.

The bid by Plano, Texas, EDS is the latest attempt by multinational IT services companies to acquire Indian outsourcing companies to ramp up their own operations and take advantage of the country’s low-cost manpower.

IBM acquired Daksh eServices, an Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) company in Gurgaon, in 2004. In 2003, Perot Systems bought up the shares of its Indian partner, HCL Technologies, in the joint venture HCL Perot Systems in Noida. It also acquired in the same year Vision Healthsource India, a Chennai provider of billing and claims solutions for healthcare service providers in the United States

EDS has its own wholly owned operations in India that offer services to customers worldwide.

Bangalore-based Mphasis, which is listed on Indian stock exchanges, has an IT services and a BPO business. It has more than 12,000 employees, including about 11,000 in India, and clients in multiple industries, including financial services, transportation, technology and healthcare.

The company is holding a board meeting Tuesday to discuss the details of the offer to be made by EDS, a company spokesman said Monday. “Management response to the offer is positive,” he added.

EDS said it will offer to acquire a majority stake in the company for approximately $4.58 per share in cash, pursuant to Indian securities regulations. This price represents an approximate 30% premium to the 26-week average price of Mphasis’ equity on Indian stock exchanges. The offer will be contingent on EDS acquiring 83 million shares, representing approximately 52% of current shares outstanding, EDS said. If at least 83 million shares are not tendered in the offer, EDS will not accept any shares tendered, it added.

At current exchange rates, the total purchase price for the 83 million shares is approximately $380 million. EDS expects this transaction to be completed by early in the third quarter. Baring Private Equity Partners, an international private equity asset manager, holds a dominant stake of about 38 percent in the company.