AION Capital acquires InterGlobe Technologies

Private equity investor AION Capital Partners on Monday said it acquired InterGlobe Technologies, a business outsourcing services unit of budget airliner Indigo’s parent InterGlobe Enterprises, for an undisclosed amount.

While financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, several media reports pegged the deal in the range of ₹1600 crore to ₹1800 crore.

AION Capital, which has $825 million in committed capital, is a partnership between global buyout firm Apollo Global Management and home grown investment firm ICICI Venture.

AION expects to support IGT in its next phase of growth as the company focuses on accelerating service expansion in current and new verticals in the travel industry, specifically enhancing a traveller's digital experience.

“With its strong customer base and deep domain expertise in the travel sector, we believe that IGT is uniquely positioned. We expect IGT will continue to leverage and further strengthen its digital capabilities and global footprint to meet the growing demand for differentiated customer experience,” said Utsav Baijal, Partner with AION Capital, in a statement.

IGT was founded in 1998 by InterGlobe Enterprises and focuses on the travel and hospitality industry. It has more than 70 marquee customers globally. With a workforce of over 10,000 travel experts, spread across 15 centers in seven countries, IGT provides digital contact center services, domain driven technology and innovative digital services and solutions including chatbots, robotic process automation, travel analytics and social media services.

“We will continue to invest in this sizeable global business, with a focus on digital transformation within the travel eco-system,” said Vipul Doshi, chief executive, IGT.

After what was a blockbuster year for strategic, private equity (PE) and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals last year, 2019 seems to have started on a good note with this transaction, highlighting stronger investment sentiments. 2018 saw total deals value worth over $100 billion, for the first time ever, on the back of consolidation across sectors, a significant surge in big-ticket transactions, and an increased attention to the stressed asset space, among others.

While PE activity had a lukewarm start last year; investor pooled in $34 billion invested across the year, a few million dollars more than last year. M&A and strategic deals crossed $71 billion till December 3, breaking all previous records, according to an estimate by major global auditor, PwC, in its latest report—Deals in India: Annual review and outlook for 2019.