Essar closes Rs 2000-cr Aegis sale; retires Rs 75,000 cr debt

The Essar Group on Monday announced the closure of its BPO arm Aegis sale for Rs 2,000 crore to  Capital Square Partners (CSP).

As per the statement issued by Essar,  AGC Holdings Limited (AGC) Mauritius, a wholly owned portfolio company of Essar Global Fund Limited (Essar Global), has concluded the sale of 100% of its stake in ESM Holdings Limited, Mauritius, which is the holding company of Aegis.

Aegis Global CEO Sandip Sen said he is thankful to the Essar management for incubating the BPO business and nurturing it through timely and strategic acquisitions.

"Essar's support and guidance helped us grow and reach a stage where we could dream bigger and strive higher. I am very excited to have CSP join us as our new partners in Aegis' growth journey," he said.

Managing Partners of CSP  Sanjay Chakrabarty and Mr Mukesh Sharda said with this acquisition the company  is keenly looking forward to working with the Aegis management team. "We want to grow its global footprint and enhance its capabilities and excellence in service to its customers," they said in a statement.

 The transaction also 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.

The Essar Group is going through asset restructuring during the fiscal to meet its growing financial requirements. According to some financial analysts, the group has a  total debt of Rs 1.38 trillion.

Apart from selling the BPO arm Aegis, the diversified group which is hhas presence in oil busienss and real-estate, recently concluded $13 billion deal to sell its oil business to Russia's syRosneft.

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.

AGC Holding  Director  Uday Gujadhur said the closure of this transaction is yet another validation of Essar Global Fund's commitment to reduce its leverage by monetising the non-core businesses in its portfolio.

"I congratulate CSP for investing in a high quality asset, like Aegis, in the BPO space and adding to its breadth of expertise," said Gujadhur.

The Aegis sale was announced on this April 3 and involved AGC Holdings Mauritius, a wholly-owned portfolio company of Essar Global, selling 100 per cent stake in ESM Holdings Mauritius, the holding company of Aegis, to CSP, a Singapore-based private equity fund.