Sequoia Capital exits Firstsource solutions, Royal Orchid

By Madhav A Chanchani (VCCircle.com)

WestBridge Capital Partners, the earlier avatar of Sequoia Capital India, has sold a 3.26% stake in Firstsource.

WestBridge Capital Partners, the earlier avtar of Sequoia Capital India, has sold a 3.26% stake in BPO services provider Firstsource Solutions Ltd. The stake has been sold for a little more then Rs 34.5 crore on both NSE and BSE in different transactions on Wednesday.

The stake has been sold by Westbridge Ventures I Investment Holdings at a price between Rs 24.8-24.98 a share. WestBridge Capital Partners merged with Sequoia Capital to form Sequoia Capital India in 2006.

Westbridge would still have around a 1.3% stake in the firm. The investment was made from its first fund.

The exit price now is a far cry from the one Sequoia (WestBridge) made when sold around 4.45% stake in Firstsource to Khemka family's SUN Group for a total sum of $42 million in May 2007. That time Firstsource was trading near its life time high of Rs 88 per share.

Last year there were reports saying that three investors - ICICI Bank, India's second-largest bank, Singapore state investor Temasek and U.S.-based banking technology group Metavante, who own collectively more than 68% stake in Firstsource - were looking to sell out. Several private equity majors were said to be in the race but the deal did not materialise.

Westbridge had invested $15 million in BPO firm FirstRing in 2001, which was acquired ICICI OneSource in 2003. FirstRing's other investors were Hero Group, and individual investors, Ravi Sethi and Suhas Patil. ICICI OneSource was renamed as Firstsource later and went public in 2007.

Haircut In Royal Orchid