Thursday, August 23, 2007

FirstSource in advanced talks on $300 mn US buy

A leading Indian pure-play business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, FirstSource Solutions, has emerged as the frontrunner in the quest to buy the US-based healthcare player MedAssist.

The deal size, sources say, is close to $300 million (around Rs 1,200 crore). If it materialised, it would be one of the largest overseas acquisitions after Wipro’s buyout of Infocrossing for around $600 million and the largest in the BPO space, they added.

Sources close to the deal say there is one more serious contender in the race for MedAssist, which has revenues of $90-100 million and provides patient services, eligibility services, patient financing and healthcare collections. It has around 1,400 employees and 950 healthcare providers as clients.

FirstSource is also rumoured to be in the race to acquire Citi’s BPO unit after the first round of bidding. The sale of the BPO business, being run by Citigroup Global Services (formerly eServe), is expected to fetch Citi around Rs 3,200 crore.

During its initial public offering (IPO) in January, the FirstSource management had indicated that the company intended to use the net proceeds of the issue for acquisitions, setting up facilities, repaying loan and general corporate purposes. Out of the proceeds of the IPO, the company plans to spend approximately Rs 180 crore on acquisitions.

(Source: Business Standard)

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