The conglomerate has sold a 60% stake of GECIS to private equity firms General Atlantic Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners for $500 million, valuing the operation at $833 million, almost twice the unit’s anticipated sales for the year of $420 million. The transaction is the largest ever Indian BPO deal.
GECIS is the largest BPO company in India, and employs some 12,000 people in call center, finance and accounts, and transaction-processing services. It was one of the first major captive offshore operations to be set up when it began in 1997. Rumors have circulated over GECIS’s lack of success in being able to expand its customer base to third parties, and 85% of its work still comes from its parent company.
Other bidders are thought to have included Cognizant Technology Solutions, Convergys, Hewlett-Packard, and Infosys Technologies.
In June 2004, GE raised $2.8 billion by spinning off a 30% stake in its consumer finance unit Genworth Financial, which also provides customer service, data and claims processing, and finance-processing services from India.
