Aegis BPO, a leading global business-process outsourcing (BPO) provider and part of Essar Group, one of India’s largest and fastest growing business conglomerate, and PeopleSupport, a leading offshore BPO provider, have entered in a definitive agreement to merge through Essar Services (Mauritius), its wholly owned subsidiary through a cash transaction with an aggregate equity value of approximately $250 million. This strategic combination has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Aegis BPO will pay PeopleSupport stockholders
$12.25 per share in cash through Essar Services (Mauritius), which represents a premium of approximately 29 percent over PeopleSupport’s closing share price on August 1, 2008, thecc last trading day prior to today’s announcement, and a premium of approximately 42 percent over the weighted average trading price of the Company’s shares during the previous 30 trading days.
Following the merger, Aegis BPO will become a leader in the rapidly growing global BPO market with operations in India, the Philippines, the U.S. and Costa Rica. With approximately 4,000 employees in the U.S. and more than 25,000 employees in several offshore locations, Aegis BPO is well positioned to provide onshore, nearshore and offshore BPO services or a combination of customized solutions to meet client requirements. Additionally, Aegis BPO will offer and benefit from greater scale, deeper domain expertise, a comprehensive and flexible solution offering, financial strength, and a rich international talent pool.
Lance Rosenzweig, PeopleSupport CEO and Chairman, said, “PeopleSupport has pioneered the development of offshore BPO in the Philippines and Costa Rica, and we are excited to become a part of a global outsourcing leader. We believe that this combination will deliver superior value to PeopleSupport’s stockholders and customers as well as provide our employees with an opportunity to be part of a larger enterprise and to explore career opportunities in new geographies. Combining PeopleSupport and Aegis BPO, with its excellent reputation for customer service and high quality services, creates a wealth of exciting growth opportunities, as well as operational and client acquisition synergies. Our two companies share the same core values of customer satisfaction and commitment to high quality solutions. PeopleSupport’s solutions bring compelling value to an organization and Aegis’s leadership and market strength can take PeopleSupport to the next level of excellence.”
“This is a truly outstanding combination,” said Aparup Sengupta, Global CEO and Managing Director of Aegis BPO. “The addition of PeopleSupport’s high performance operations in the Philippines and Costa Rica will enable Aegis BPO to become a leader in the global BPO market. We share many common values, namely our dedication to customer excellence, thriving on innovation and building a people culture. This combination extends Aegis’ capabilities across multiple geographies and domains that is one of the key strategies of becoming a global outsourcing leader.”
