Intelenet gets Sebi nod for Sparsh stake buy

Intelenet Global Services, a business process outsourcing company owned by US-based Blackstone  Group, has won market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's approval for buying the remaining stake in Sparsh BPO Services.

Mumbai-based Intelenet may come out with an offer in the next 10 days to acquire the residual 12 per cent stake in Sparsh from one of the founders, Kapil Puri, sources said.

This will pave the way for Kapil Puri to expand Spanco Telesystems, the business process outsourcing and telecommunication services company that he set up after partly exiting Sparsh.

Puri is slated to receive around Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) from the sale of his stake, which will take place at around Rs 200 per share. This includes a premium as against the existing ruling price of Rs 150 per share. 

At present, Kapil Puri is the chairman and managing director of Spanco Telesystems, another BPO company. After the sale, Puri intends to focus on developing Spanco Telesystems.

Puri said he would tender his stake through the open offer to Intelenet as and when it opens. If there were any stake remaining after Intelenet acquiring it, Puri would sell it in the open market. He, however, did not comment on the timing of the open offer.

On the other hand, Intelenet executives could not be contacted for comments.

Spanco sold Sparsh to Intelenet in 2005 and started its own BPO operations in May 2007 after the non-compete agreement with the former expired. 

In June 2007, Blackstone acquired Intelenet through a management-led buyout for an undisclosed sum. The deal marked the US-based PE investor's first major investment in India's BPO space.