CMS Info may buy Brink’s India’s cash management biz for ` 400 cr

Private equity firm Barings-owned CMS Infosystem is leading the race to acquire Brink’s India’s cash management business, which has seen interest from multiple companies including travel firm Thomas Cook, for an estimated ` 400 crore.

According to people familiar with the development, CMS is in advanced stages to buy out the Indian cash management arm of the NYSE-listed Brink’s, which provides security-related services for banks, financial institutions and companies.

The development comes close on the heels of a consolidation move last month, which reportedly led Barings to buy out equity stakes of Blackstone and the founder Grover family’s shareholding in CMS, for ` 2,000 crore.

The transaction with Brink’s signals robust interest in the cash management space, where an existing player with a large reach could leverage on growing opportunities, especially in the wake of the entry of large players in the payments bank and small finance bank businesses.

The RBI recently issued payments bank licences to 11 companies and will come out with guidelines for small finance banks soon, which will see the need to carry out more financial services in smaller towns and in rural areas.

“The banking industry is seeing lot of changes and there will be the need for developed financial services. There is also the need for large players operating in this space as the ambit of services will be big,” said a person aware of the talks. Apart from Thomas Cook, other firms, including Prizm Payments and the logistics firm SIS Prosegur, have shown interest in Brink’s.

While CMS did not respond to mails from HT, a Brink’s spokesperson said that the company will not comment on market speculation. Officials at Equrus Capital, which is advising Brink on potential buyers, also did not respond.

CMS is India’s largest cash management firm with over 100,000 ATMs and retail outlets, and accounts for 55% of the cash dispensed in the country.