Carlyle emerges as sole bidder for Blackstone-backed Mphasis

Private equity major Carlyle has emerged as the sole bidder for Blackstone-owned infotech company Mphasis, persons told The Economic Times.

The report said that this would be the biggest buyout in the Indian IT sector.

PE biggies such as Brookfield and Goldman Sachs were expected to bid but none came forward.

Suitors who had shown interest included Bain Capital, Brookfield and UK investment firm Permira.

Blackstone will receive Rs 15,719 crore for its 56% stake. Carlyle will have to shell out additional Rs 7,400 crore for the mandatory open offer the acquisition will trigger.

The report said that Carlyle is in talks with financial institutions to raise funding for the acquisition. JPMorgan, CPPIB, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Nomura, and others are likely to join the financing consortium.

Blackstone had picked the stake at Rs 430 per share, paying roughly $1 billion, from Hewlett Packard back in 2016. And the mandatory open offer was done at Rs 457 per share.