BLACKSTONE CALLS OFF MPHASIS SALE ON VALUATIONS

MUMBAI: Blackstone Group Inc. has shelved a planned sale of its majority stake in Indian IT outsourcing services provider Mphasis Ltd. over valuations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The private equity firm rejected the two bidders in the final round as their offers didn’t meet its expectations, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Blackstone has informed the interested parties that it has halted the sale, the person added.

Blackstone bought a 60.5% stake in Mumbai-listed Mphasis from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. in 2016 at ₹430 per share. The private equity firm also made an open offer to acquire additional shares from other shareholders. As of end of 2020, Blackstone owned about 56% in the tech firm.

The asset manager started identifying buyers for its majority stake in Mphasis a few months ago. It had held talks with prospective investors including Carlyle Group Inc. and Singapore state investment fund GIC Pte. Shares in Mphasis reached an all-time high at ₹1,788 each on February 23.

Mphasis fell about 1% in early Mumbai trading on Tuesday, giving the company a market value of about $4.1 billion. While the stock has receded from the peak, it’s still trading at around ₹1,600, way above Blackstone’s offer price five years ago.

The Economic Times reported on Monday that negotiations between Blackstone and Carlyle have hit an impasse over valuations.