Teleperformance clinches Intelenet deal for USD1bn

French outsourcing giant Teleperformance has beaten other bidders to acquire Intelenet, a business process outsourcing firm owned by Blackstone, in a deal worth USD1 billion. The Euronext-listed Teleperformance trumped PE group Carlyle and a number of other potential suitors including Baring PE Asia, Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area (PIA), KKR-backed Webhelp and Conduent, a spinoff of Xerox and US-based Synnex Corporation, to clinch the deal through a keenly contested bidding process. This will be the second large India-focused transaction for Teleperformance in recent years, having acquired parts of Essar Group’s BPO business in 2014. Founded in 2000, Intelenet and currently headed by Bhupender Singh its CEO, the firm employs over 55,000 people across eight countries, including the US, UK, India and the Philippines. According to Teleperformance, the deal is expected to close by September and will have a positive impact of around 10% on Teleperformance’s earnings per share.