Essar Announces Sale of Aegis to Capital Square Partners

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius and SINGAPORE, April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sale Marks Essar's Complete Exit From BPO Business

- Aegis has Revenues of US$400 Million and 40,000 Employees in 10 Countries

- Transaction Likely to Close During Q1 of FY17-18, Subject to Regulatory Approvals and Other Customary Closing Conditions

AGC Holdings Limited (AGC) Mauritius, a wholly owned portfolio company of Essar Global Limited (Essar Global), has entered into a definitive agreement with Capital Square Partners (CSP) to sell 100% of its stake for an undisclosed amount in ESM Holdings Limited, Mauritius, which is the holding company of Aegis, a major global outsourcing company. Net proceeds of this sale will be used to retire Essar's debt.

This marks Essar Global's complete exit from the BPO business after creating significant value through organic growth and strategic acquisitions that helped diversify customer offerings.

Essar entered the BPO business in 2004 with the acquisition of the US-based Aegis Communications Group, with 2,000 employees. In 2014, AGC announced the successful sale of Aegis USA Inc (comprising Aegis' operations in the USA, the Philippines and Costa Rica) to Teleperformance. As a result of the sale, the Aegis headcount and revenues were substantially reduced. Since then, Aegis has once again grown the business substantially in terms of headcount, revenues, product offerings and customer base becoming a preferred vendor for many premium clients in key industries, such as telecommunications, technology, media, banking, financial services & insurance, travel & logistics, retail and ecommerce.

Currently, Aegis has revenues of around US$400 million, and employs more than 40,000 people across 47 centres in 10 countries with operations in India, the UAE, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Peru, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and the UK.

Mr Uday Gujadhar, Director-AGC, said, "This transaction is in line with our strategy of incubating, building and operating world-class businesses, and being open to monetizing them at a premium value when the market conditions are favourable. I congratulate my colleagues at Aegis for growing the business to a level where it has attracted an investor like CSP, which has extensive domain experience and deep understanding of South East Asia to ensure that the company continues to grow and prosper, thus rewarding both its people and customers."

Mr Sanjay Chakrabarty and Mr Mukesh Sharda, Managing Partners of CSP, jointly said "We are excited about the opportunity to work with the Aegis management team in embarking on the next stage of growth, by focusing on innovation and adding our sector knowledge and expertise. The Essar group has built this company and achieved significant scale and value creation, and we look forward to continue to build on the core values of customer focus, agility and service excellence of Aegis.

Mr Sandip Sen, Managing Director, Aegis, said, "Aegis has established itself as a high value service provider to its customers. We shall continue to provide quality service to our esteemed customers and be an employer of choice. I am confident that the added capabilities of our new shareholder will present an even more compelling value proposition to the marketplace."

Essar's advisors in the transaction include Axis Capital as financial advisor, and Platinum Partners and Sidley Austin as legal advisors. Shearman & Sterling and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas acted as legal advisors to CSP.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of FY 2017-18, subject to receiving regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

About Aegis  

Aegis is a leading outsourcing business solutions partner to global corporations in the telecom, technology, media, Banking Financial Services and Insurance, travel and logistics, retail and e-commerce and public sectors. 40,000+ Aegis experts across 47 centers worldwide deliver customer lifecycle management, technology services, back office services and social media analytics to power superior business results for clients. Visit http://www.aegisglobal.com to learn more about solutions for global enterprises and their customers.

About Essar  

Essar Global Fund operates a number of world-class assets diversified across the core sectors of energy, metals & mining, infrastructure and services (primarily comprising shipping and BPO businesses). The aggregated revenues of the Fund's portfolio companies total US$27 billion. The Fund's portfolio companies employ over 60,000 people across four continents.

About Capital Square Partners 

Capital Square Partners is a private equity fund manager based in Singapore, and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It primarily invests in buyouts and control investments across South East Asia and India, with a focus on TMT, healthcare, business services and consumer sectors. It has made a number of investments in the Technology Services and BPO sectors, including its investment to acquire MINACS in early 2014 which was subsequently acquired by Concentrix in late 2016. Additional information on CSP can be found at http://www.capitalsquarepartners.com.

Media Contact:
Manish Kedia
Senior Vice President - Corporate Affairs, Essar
Phone: +91-98197-30092
Email: manish.kedia@essar.com

Ravi Muthreja
Vice President - Corporate Communication, Essar
Phone: +91-99301-34566
Email: Ravi.Muthreja@essar.com