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An affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia has offloaded its entire stake in Coforge Ltd. in open-market transactions, exiting a business it had acquired in 2019.
Hulst BV sold 16,271,260 shares-equivalent to 26.63% of outstanding share capital-of the Noida-based IT services firm at Rs 4,550 apiece in multiple tranches on Thursday, according to the terms of the transaction seen by BQ Prime. That values the stake at about Rs 7,400 crore. The selling price was at 7.4% discount to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 4,913.10 on the BSE. IIFL Securities Ltd. was the broker for the transaction.
“We are proud to have supported Coforge and its mission over the past four years,” said Hari Gopalakrishnan, partner and co-head of Baring Private Equity Asia EQT’s investment advisory team in India. “It has been a pleasure partnering with CEO Sudhir Singh and his entire team and we look forward to following the next phase of Coforge’s growth.”
When contacted, a Coforge spokesperson refused to comment on the deal.
In 2019, funds associated with Baring PE Asia acquired 18.85 million shares-equivalent to 30% equity shareholding-of NIIT Technologies Ltd. at Rs 1,394 apiece, aggregating to Rs 2,627 crore. That, according to India’s capital market regulations, triggered an open offer-Baring PE acquired a further 26% stake in the company at Rs 1,394 apiece.
The company was then renamed to Coforge Ltd. At its peak, Baring PE and its affiliates held nearly 70% of the IT services firm.
Since then, however, Baring PE Asia has offloaded Coforge stock in multiple tranches, the latest being in February this year. Now, the private equity firm has exited the company.
As on June 30, Coforge had a public shareholding at 73.37% with promoters holding the rest, according to the company’s latest shareholding pattern available on the BSE website. The Life Insurance Corporation of India-the country’s biggest insurer-owned 6% of the firm, mutual funds held 27% and foreign investors about 24%.
To be sure, Coforge isn’t in any way in the doldrums. In the April-June quarter, net profit of the IT services firm rose 44% sequentially to Rs 165.3 crore, on the back of revenue that increased 2.4% to Rs 2,221 crore. In fiscal 2023, the company achieved its target of $1 billion in annual revenue, following which it spent more than a fourth of its fourth quarter profit on celebratory iPads for employees.
