Serco in talks to sell Indian division

Struggling outsourcing group Serco is on the verge of completing the sale of its Indian unit to CVC Capital Partners for approximately £250m.

According to Sky News, advisers to the FTSE 250 group have begun negotiations to sell Intelenet, an India-based process outsourcing operation to Philippine sector peer SPI Global, which is owned by CVC.

Analysts believe that Intelenet, which provides back office services to businesses in a range of sectors, including finance, travel, healthcare and telecoms, could be worth approximately £257m.

However, sources cited by Sky News said the deal was not yet completed, adding that Blackstone, Intelenet's former owner, had also submitted a bid to Serco, which has recently been blighted by a number of profit warnings and fraud probes.

Meanwhile, the outsourcing group is also understood to be intent to dispose of its environmental waste and leisure services divisions.

Serco shares down 0.51% to 135.90p at 12:54 on Tuesday.