Blackstone to Pick up Another 26% Stake in Mphasis

U.S. equity fund Blackstone has teamed up with its partners, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to pick up another 26% stake in Indian IT outsourcing firm Mphasis.

The move comes four years after Blackstone purchased a controlling 56% stake in Mphasis from Hewlett Packard Enterprise for around US$1 billion.

Mphasis was formed in 2000 following the merger of the US-based IT consulting company Mphasis Corporation and the Indian IT services company BFL Software Limited. Before HPE, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) had owned 42% of the IT provider.

“The company is exceptionally well-positioned given a terrific management team, strong order backlog, long-term strategic customer base, deep domain expertise in financial services, and a world-class suite of cloud and digital offerings,” stated Amit Dixit of Blackstone Private Equity.

Mphasis has grown significantly since Blackstone took over. In 2016, it was worth barely US$1 billion, but today its market capitalization has jumped to more than US$4.5 billion.

Thanks largely to Blackstone, today most of the top financial services providers in the U.S. are its clients. It won dozens of large contracts during the last three quarters of 2020, according to the equity investor.