Blackstone to buy 52% stake in Indian IT firm R Systems for $359mBlackstone to pay Rs245 per R Systems share, a premium of 4% to Wednesday’s closing p…

US investment fund Blackstone Inc said on Thursday it would buy a 52% stake in India’s R Systems International from the IT services company’s promoters for $359 million.

Blackstone said it would pay 245 rupees per R Systems share, a premium of around 4% to the closing price on Wednesday. But, R Systems‘ shares shot up about 17% to 275.25 rupees in morning trading on Thursday.

“R Systems is well-positioned to benefit from digitalization tailwinds, shorter product launch cycles and increased openness to outsource product development,” Blackstone Senior Managing Director Mukesh Mehta said in a statement.

Blackstone said it would launch a conditional de-listing offer at 246 rupees per share and that it was seeking regulatory approval from the Indian market regulator.

Satinder Singh Rekhi, one of R Systems‘ promoters selling their stake, will be a non-executive advisor to Blackstone.

R Systems‘ shares had shed a quarter of their value so far this year until Wednesday, after surging about 168% last year.

Reuters

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