Shareholders to get AUD 0.98 a share in cash, a premium of 133% on May 14 closing price
Continuing its inorganic growth strategy, Aegis, the Essar group’s business process outsourcing (BPO) arm, has signed a deal to acquire UCMS Group, an Australian firm, through an all-cash transaction worth AUD 54 million (around Rs 203 crore).
The acquisition being done by the company’s Australian affiliate, Aegis BPO Services Australia, is subject to several conditions. These include UCMS shareholder approval, approval by the Supreme Court of the state of Victoria and certain other customary closing conditions. Aegis will pay UCMS stockholders AUD 0.98 per share in cash, which is a premium of 133 per cent over the closing price of UCMS on May 14, of AUD 0.42, being the last trading day prior to this announcement.
The announcement comes soon after an unsuccessful bid by the company to acquire the Nasdaq-listed ICT Group for $130 million earlier this year. The acquisition fell through as the ICT Group said it would not be in their best interest to pursue the transaction proposed by Aegis. The company was also in the race to acquire the BPO operations of Satyam Computer Services. However, it pulled out of the race, since the government-appointed board of Satyam had ruled out any sale of parts.
UCMS has been in business for 14 years and has revenue of AUD 157 million. With this acquisition, Aegis’ headcount will go up by 2,000 and touch 33,000, and will also give more access to Australian markets.
“Since the board of directors and the management team has agreed on this, the other formalities are not a big concern. In the next 90 days, we will finish. Australia and New Zealand logically become a part of our growth strategy and offer an opportunity for Aegis to expand its footprint in this geography. The combined entity will offer clients and prospects an expanded set of solutions and services from a broader geographic delivery platform,” said Aparup Sengupta, Global CEO and Managing Director of Aegis Limited.
On completion of the transaction, Aegis will add its presence in Australia to that in 32 other global locations, in India, the Philippines, the United States, Costa Rica and Kenya, among others. UCMS has three centres in Melbourne. Sengupta says Aegis will continue with the operations in Australia and will further develop the local business.
“This will give UCMS clients an opportunity to get their processes delivered from the other global centres where Aegis already has presence. This acquisition also brings a whole lot of cross-selling opportunities too,” Sengupta said.
Denice Pitt, Chief Executive Officer, UCMS said, “We are excited to become a part of a global outsourcing leader. We believe that this combination will deliver superior value to our customers, as well as provide our employees an opportunity to be part of a larger enterprise and to explore career opportunities in new geographies.”
