AION leads race to acquire InterGlobe Tech for Rs 1,800 crore

BENGALURU: AION Capital, a joint venture between global buyout investor Apollo and ICICI Venture, has emerged as the front-runner to acquire InterGlobe Technologies, the IT and back-office arm of travel conglomerate InterGlobe Enterprises, people directly aware of the matter said.

AION has entered exclusive discussions with InterGlobe, which could lead to a buyout of the latter for around $225-250 million, or Rs 1,800 crore. Diversified conglomerate InterGlobe — also the parent of India’s largest airline IndiGo — has a presence in aviation, hospitality, technology and real estate.

InterGlobe Technologies has expertise across more than 30 travel processes, queue management, baggage claim & in-flight points-of-sale (PoS) and over 100 travel technologies. The company clocked a Rs 712-crore revenue in the 2016-17 financial year compared to Rs 720 crore in the previous year.


TOI first reported about InterGlobe appointing investment banks to sell the travelfocused IT services business in March this year. The sale process had also attracted the interest of Tech Mahindra and French BPO company WebHelp, among others.

But Tech Mahindra dropped off the list a few weeks later, leaving AION Capital as a sole contender, gaining exclusivity to make the binding offer. InterGlobe Technologies, which has over 60 customers across the travel category, is competing with other homegrown tech services companies like NIIT and Accelya that have a sizeable footprint on the travel, cargo and transportation space. InterGlobe offers digital contact centre services, automation, digital solutions, application development and maintenance for the travel industry through a network of 16 global delivery centres.

AION, after closing its maiden fund of $825 million, has made several investments in financial services, energy and manufacturing. Building IT assets could unlock a revenue stream by mining the worldwide portfolio companies of buyout investor Apollo. Moelis & Co is advising AION on the potential transaction.