T Rowe Price acquires 5% in TeamLease for Rs 160 crore

NEW DELHI: T Rowe Price, one of the world’s largest asset management firms, has bought 5% in listed recruitment and staffing company TeamLease Services for about Rs 160 crore.

The Baltimore, Maryland-headquartered investment management firm, which manages about $970 billion assets, purchased the stake from Mumbai-based mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital, the first risk capital investor in TeamLease, according to sources aware of developments.

Gopal Jain, managing partner at Gaja Capital, confirmed the transaction, but declined to provide details. A formal statement is expected on Tuesday. Shares of TeamLease closed at Rs 1,892.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday, up by about 2%.

According to sources cited above, the sale by Gaja represents about 20% of its stake in the company. The private equity firm, which had invested about Rs 75 crore to pick up 25%, in TeamLease in two rounds in 2010 and 2011, had scored a handsome partial exit when the company made its public market debut in February 2016 — reportedly earning about Rs 120 crore.

The TeamLease IPO was one of the most successful public market debuts last year and saw massive oversubscription, attracting bids of Rs 16,000 crore for Rs 420 crore of shares on offer.

The Gaja stake in TeamLease is expected to slip to 8.5% now, from 13.5%.

Gaja Capital, which closed its third fund in March last year, manages assets of about $500 million across three investment vehicles. It primarily focuses on the consumption segment, with emphasis on education, financial services, consumer and healthcare.

Earlier this month, ETreported that the PE firm and global buyout specialist KKR had jointly led a Rs 980-crore investment in domestic financial services firm Avendus Capital.