Blackstone, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Strike $1B Deal For India’s IT Major Mphasis

Blackstone India, the Indian arm of global private equity fund Blackstone Group LP, said Sunday it would buy a majority stake in Mphasis Ltd, an Indian IT services company, from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for a purchase price of 430 rupees ($6.49) per share. The move is believed to be the world’s largest private-equity firm's biggest acquisition in India.

Based on the open offer Sunday, the purchase price consideration of HPE's stake is valued at approximately $825 million. Companies such as Tech Mahindra and private equity firms such as Blackstone and Apollo had been bidding for the Bangalore-based IT company over the last several months.

Sunday’s proposed transaction will also trigger a mandatory open offer for a purchase of additional 26 percent shares of Mphasis. Depending on the response to the open offer, the deal price will vary between 54.66 billion rupees and 70.71 billion rupees ($825 million and $1.1 billion), according to local media reports.

HPE and Blackstone agreed on the terms of a five-year master services agreement (MSA) Sunday, under which HPE has proposed to commit a minimum revenue amount escalating year-on-year and totaling $990 million over the next five years.

Mphasis will also be included in HPE’s Preferred Provider Program, which would open up new revenue opportunities for the Bangalore-based company. HPE inherited Mphasis when it bought IT consulting company Electronic Data Systems in 2008.