Blackstone To Pick Up Majority Stake, In R Systems International For USD 359 Mn

American private equity giant Blackstone on Thursday said it will pick up majority stake in digital services firm R Systems International for USD 359 million or Rs 2,904 crore. Blackstone has signed definitive agreements with Satinder Singh Rekhi and other promoters of R Systems to this effect, it said in a statement. The Noida-based R Systems, founded in 1993 by Rekhi, is a leading provider of digital IT services, specializing in product engineering, and serves over 250 customers in technology, media, telecom, and financial services sectors globally.

R Systems employs over 4,400 people across 18 delivery centers in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and India. It reported revenue in the 12-months ending September at Rs 1,445 crore, a 36 per cent year-on-year growth. Rekhi and other promoters currently hold 52 per cent stake in R Systems, which Blackstone will acquire for Rs 245 per share. Rekhi will continue to guide the company in his role as a non-executive advisor. Blackstone will also launch a conditional delisting offer, at a price of Rs 246 per share.

It can be noted that IT/ITeS has been one of the strongest investment theses for Blackstone in the country and it has pumped in around USD 7 billion into domestic firms like Mphasis, VFS, TaskUs IBS software, Intelenet, Simplilearn among others. In 2022, Blackstone had closed out VFS for USD 2 billion, ASK Wealth for USD 1 billion and USD 300 million in Xpressbees.

On the latest deal, Mukesh Mehta, a senior managing director at Blackstone, said as a leader in outsourced software product development, R Systems, is well-positioned to benefit from digitalization tailwinds, shorter product launch cycles and increased openness to outsource product development. "This investment follows our long-standing conviction in IT services and builds on our track record in the sector globally," he said.

Rekhi said he is confident of Blackstone taking R Systems on the path to its next level of growth. The employees, customers, and partners will gain immensely from this partnership with Blackstone, he added. BDA Partners acted as the financial advisor to the sellers of R Systems. AZB & Partners acted as legal advisor to the sellers. KPMG, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as advisors to Blackstone. R Systems maintains 18 development and service centers to serve customers in North America, Europe, and APAC and operates over 25 offices worldwide. As a leading investment firm Blackstone investments value stands at USD 954 billion globally.

(PTI)