Actis backs outsourcing services provider with $50m

Emerging markets specialist Actis has invested $50 million for a significant minority stake in Integreon, a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) services provider. Additional details of the transaction were not disclosed.

JM Trivedi and Gautham Radhakrishnan, Actis’ head of South Asia and a director at the firm respectively, will join the company’s three-strong board of directors, according to a statement from the firm. 

Actis co-invested alongside Ayala Corporation, a Filipino business conglomerate with interests in real estate, financial services, telecommunications, electronics, water distribution and information technology. Ayala first invested in Integreon in 2006 and continues to hold a majority stake in the company, the statement noted. 

Integreon provides research, legal and business knowledge process outsourcing services to clients, including corporations, law firms and investment banks, focusing exclusively on legal and financial outsourcing. The company has offices in China, India, Philippines, South Africa, the US and the UK.

Actis’ investment will be used to scale up Integreon’s suite of services and technologies, open new delivery centres and seek strategic acquisitions, the statement noted.

The firm has previously invested in business services companies including LMKR Holdings, an information management solutions provider with operations in Pakistan, and Veeda, a Mumbai-based clinical research organisation.

It is presently investing out of Actis Emerging Markets 3, a pan-emerging markets private equity fund, which closed on $2.9 billion in December 2008, surpassing its $2.5 billion target.

In October 2009, Actis held a final close on $750 million for Actis Infrastructure 2, falling short of its $1.25 million target. Globally, the firm manages $4.8 billion, including $2.4 billion in Asia.